- Patients benefited from horse riding lessons 5 years after a life-changing attack
- Lessons twice a week for 12 weeks produced improvements in stroke survivors
- Scores on balance, gait and grip strength increased by 10% over the course
- Crucially, some 56% of patients who had lessons saw benefits from the lessons
Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail
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Horse riding could help people recover after a stroke, researchers found. Patients benefited from horse riding lessons even five years after a life-changing attack.
Lessons twice a week for 12 weeks produced improvements in balance, walking gait, grip strength and cognition.
Average scores on these attributes increased by 10 per cent over the course while patients not involved in the classes saw their scores fall by an average of 0.5 per cent.
Crucially, some 56 per cent of patients who had lessons saw benefits that were sustained for at least six months after the course ended.
Horse riding lessons twice a week for 12 weeks produced improvements in balance, walking gait, grip strength and cognition
How does it work?
The researchers think the rocking of the horse’s back creates a sensory experience that closely resembles normal human gait, reminding stroke victims of the sensation of walking and balancing.
The research, by experts in Sweden and Australia, also found a therapy in which patients beat their hands and feet to music was beneficial, although only to about half the degree of the horse riding lessons.
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Those who took rhythm-and-music classes improved by 5 per cent, and 43 per cent saw the benefits last six months.
THE BENEFITS OF MELODIES
Making or listening to music improves stroke, dementia and autism sufferers’ ability to communicate, research revealed yesterday.
It also benefits their families by making them feel less isolated and neglected from their communities, the study found.
Music may help verbally-challenged people communicate by allowing them to explore their creativity, according to the Plymouth University researchers.
Study leader Professor Michael Nilsson, of the University of Gothenburg, said: ‘Significant improvements are still possible, even years after a stroke, using motivating, comprehensive therapies provided in stimulating physical and social surroundings to increase brain activity and recovery.’
How was the study carried out?
The team studied 123 Swedish men and women, aged 50 to 75, who had suffered strokes between ten months and five years earlier.
Survivors were randomly assigned to the rhythm-and-music therapy, horse riding group or normal care.
An estimated 150,000 people have a stroke each year in Britain.
A quarter die within a year, and of the survivors, half are left with long-lasting disability which can include paralysis, speech problems and personality changes.
Getting access to such a simple therapy as horse riding or music lessons could revolutionise how stroke care is delivered.
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