MedlinePlus: "A rehabilitation program incorporating treadmill exercise is more effective than standard rehabilitation for improving aerobic fitness and mobility in patients who've experienced a stroke in the last few years, a new study shows.



Current rehabilitation strategies generally are limited to efforts to improve daily function and basic mobility, and stroke patients often are discharged 'with no recourse beyond generic advice to stay active and continue stretching,' Dr. Richard F. Macko of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and colleagues note in the medical journal Stroke.



Macko and his team conducted the current study to determine if treadmill exercise would help patients relearn motor skills and boost cardiovascular fitness. While treadmill training has been proposed as a means to help rehabilitate stroke patients, there is currently no clinical evidence that it is effective, they point out.



The researchers randomly assigned 61 adults to 6 months of progressive treadmill aerobic training (T-AEX) three times a week or a comparison program of low-intensity walking plus stretching. All patients had walking problems for at least 6 months after their stroke. On average, the patients had experienced their stroke 3 years before the study began.



Twenty-five patients completed the T-AEX program and 20 completed the comparison program. Patients in the treadmill-training group showed a 17 percent improvement in cardiovascular fitness, compared with 3 percent for patients in the comparison program.



A 30-percent improvement on 6-minute walks was seen with treadmill training, compared with 11 percent for the other patients. Treadmill-trained patients improved 56 percent on mobility compared with 12 percent for the comparison group.



The researchers conclude: 'Further studies are needed to determine whether task-oriented exercise can improve long-term functional independence and cardiovascular health in chronic stroke.'"