Aside from helping people who have trouble with speech due to stroke, speech-language therapy enhances recovery by stimulating the brain to make neural connections from uninjured parts of the brain to those parts affected by stroke, Dr.
#MINI STROKE MEMORY LOSS SERIES#
“Games that require you to use your brain, whether as simple as checkers or complex as chess, can help you regain your memory,” says Allen Kaisler-Meza, MD, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist with a private practice in San Jose, California.Ĭonsider using an app like Constant Therapy, which houses a series of brain exercises at different levels that are specific to improving memory and cognitive function in people recovering from neurological conditions including stroke.Ģ. RELATED: Study Finds Stroke Survivors Benefit From Cardiac Rehab 8 Ways to Regain Your Memory After Strokeġ. But where drugs won’t help, you can take steps with activities, therapy, and rehabilitation to help recover your memory after stroke. In fact, certain medications may actually make memory loss worse, according to the American Stroke Association (ASA). No medication is known to help reverse memory loss after a stroke, Meyers says. Memory loss can take the form of aphasia, suddenly forgetting words and losing the ability to verbally communicate, forgetting stories or conversations, or not being able to recognize formerly familiar faces or routes. “Memory deficits after a stroke can vary,” says Melissa Meyers, an occupational therapist at MossRehab in Philadelphia. The extent of your memory loss can depend on how old you are, the severity of your stroke, where your stroke occurred, and even the support you have from family and friends. Just like exercising your muscles can help improve mobility after a stroke, giving your brain a workout is a significant part of stroke recovery. Being diabetic or obese can be risk factors, too.Memory loss is a common symptom of stroke, but there are things you can do to help get your memory back. Those with uncontrolled high cholesterol or high blood pressure are also at high risk, as are people who smoke or use drugs or alcohol. People are at higher risk for strokes if they have atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that sufferers often describe as a quiver, flutter or flip-flop of the heart in the chest. The American Stroke Association’s statement did offer some good news: About 20% of people who experience mild cognitive impairment after a stroke fully recover their cognitive function, typically within the first six months. Mental decline may go hand in hand with other conditions associated with a stroke such as behavioral and personality changes, depression, physical disability and disruption in sleep, all of which can contribute to a lower quality of life. “Cognitive impairment after stroke ranges from mild impairment to dementia and may affect many aspects of life, such as remembering, thinking, planning, language and attention, as well as a person’s ability to work, drive or live independently,” El Husseini said.Ĭognitive impairment is most common within the first two weeks after a stroke, the statement said. Mild or not, the mental difficulties can seriously affect quality of life, said El Husseini, who chaired the writing committee for the statement. Nada El Husseini, an associate professor of neurology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, in a statement.Ībout 40% of the survivors of stroke have mild cognitive impairment that does not meet the diagnostic criteria for dementia. “Cognitive impairment is an often under-reported and under-diagnosed but yet very common condition stroke survivors frequently deal with,” said Dr. Yes, you can eat your way to heart health. (add caption) YelenaYemchuk/iStockphoto/Getty Images
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