Combination of talk therapy and exercise improves stroke related fatigue, study finds
The persistent fatigue that can linger for months and even years following a stroke currently has no treatment, but a new study suggest a combination of talk therapy and exercise might help.Researchers in the Netherlands recruited 83 stroke patients suffering from chronic fatigue and assigned them to one of two groups: one group underwent 12 weeks of cognitive therapy that was conducted in small groups; the other group underwent cognitive therapy plus exercise training.
At the end of the 12 weeks, 58% of the participants in the cognitive therapy plus exercise group experienced a “clinically relevant” improvement in fatigue, compared to only 24% in the group that received just cognitive therapy.
The study was published online in the February issue of the journal Stroke.
