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Read Dr. Randy Marshalls' article on NOVA VISION below. To go to NOVA VISIONS web site click here... If you are having vision problems due to stroke, look at this...... 12/04/07

To see all national locations click here    Theraputic sight partiality restoration from stroke

New hope for stroke patients with partial visual loss? Visual Restoration Therapy (VRT; Nova Vision, Boca Raton, Florida) is the first treatment for brain injured patients with partial visual loss to show promise in restoring vision. The technique was developed in Germany in the early 1990s by Dr. Bernard Sabel, now professor of Medical psychology at Magdeburg University. Whereas other techniques such as prism glasses and eye movement training may help compensate for the blindness on one side of space, VRT works to expand the seeing areas while shrinking the areas of lost vision. The therapy is designed for patients with partial visual damage with partial visual loss on one side of visual space caused by stroke, brain hemorrhage, post surgical damage, or head trauma. To qualify for VRT, patients must have central vision good enough to read large print at a distance of 15 inches, and have adequate comprehension, attention and concentration, and have good fuction of a least one hand. An initial screening assesses visual function and maps out the visual field defect. If the patient qualifies, and is thought to be a good candidate for this treatment, the visual map data acquired at the screening visit is sent to Nova Vision to generate a device and therapy program tailored tailored to the individual patient's visual defect.

Visual restoration therapy has been available in the US only since 2003, offered at a limited number of stroke centers around the country. Results in the US appear to be matching those reported in Germany: approximately 65% of patients get at least a 20% increase in visual field size, which translates to the difference between seeing all of rather than half of an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper held at arms length. Some patients appear to get substantially greater improvement, whereas a minority get little or none. It has not yet been possible to predict who will benfit from this therapy. Both patients older and younger than 65 years old as well as those with both recent and more remote brain injury have an equal chance of benefiting from the therapy. One clearly important factor is the degree of motivation, dedication, and perseverance that the patient can maintain over the 6 months of therapy.

For the therapy itself, patients take home the visual stimulation device, which consists of a dedicated laptop computer that sits in a frame with a chin rest, and a response pad or mouse to respond to stimuli. The therapy requires that the patient sit in a quiet darkened room for 30 minutes, twice a day, 6 days a week for 6 months. Spots of light are presented along the border of the seeing and non seeing field. Each patient's therapy program is tailored specifically to the individual's visual border. The patient's performance is recorded by the computer, then transmitted to the company on a flash disk (memory stick) which the patient mails in at the end of each month. Visual field mapsare tracked month by month by the company and the treating physician and the therapy program is advanced as the patient's vision iimproves. Technical and neurological support is provided by the company and by the center that is offering the therapy.

Althought the exact mechanism by which VRT expands the visual field is not known, it is thought to work on the principle of neuroplasticity,which is the ability of alternative regions of the brain to take over function for the brain tissue injured by stroke. Neuroplasticity, sometimes referred to as brain reorganization,has been described in both animal and human studies to help explain recovery of strength and dexterity of the limbs, as well as recovery of motor, language and visual - spatial functions. Using special imaging techniques such as "functional" magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) it has become possibleto demonstarte brain reorganization in the days, weeks and months after injury. Continued investigations into the mechanism of neuroplasticity is ongoing at Columbia Localization Laboratory under the direction of neurologist Dr. Randolph Marshall, MD and neurophsycologist, Dr. Ronald Lazar, PhD.

In addition to spontaneous recovery that many patients after stroke, a common principle is emerging with regard to attempts to enhance recovery with behavioral techniques such as VRT: Repetitive, persistant work must be performed by the patient that is targeted specifically to the neurological deficit in question. Like an athlete trying trying to restore leg strength after as knee operation, patients who are trying to enhance the recovery of vision, motor, or language function must engage in daily, repetitive work to stimulate the regions of the brain potentionally capable of assisting in the recovery process. The field of brain recovery afte stroke is still in it's early stages. With the development of newer therapy techniques such as VRT, as well as refinement of measurable tools such as fMRI to understand how they work, many clinician - investigators in the field are hopeful that the future will hold increasingly more options for those surviving brain injuries.

Amjo Corp/ Biomove -3000. Chris Cane of Amjo Corp is a sponsor and friend of the Hope for Stroke Organization and has consistantly helped many of our friends get a substantial amount of movement back in their legs or arms. To go to thier web page click here 

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Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)This is the time of year when many of us react to the shortening of the day and depression can set in. You are not alone! The syndrome is called Winter Depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D. As the days shorten, depression can set in for hundreds of thousands of people whether stroke survivors or not. The effect on a stroke survivor probably only adds to the depression they sometimes feel.

Be aware of your mood change as we move from the dog days of summer into the darker days of fall and winter. It’s not easy sometimes to link the time of the year to our mood. All too often, other factors are there and we don’t recognize the symptoms as being seasonal. 

Ask yourself, does your mood brighten in the spring and summer? Does your mood darken as winter sets in? If these questions can be answered "Yes" then perhaps you have S.A.D. and could benef


it from bright light therapy. One of our sponsors who offers the Biomove 3000 stroke therapy system also offers many products for bright light therapy at their website www.sadlight.com. The products include light boxes, high output specialized desk lamps, dawn simulators and more. If you feel your mood is darkening this time of year, you should consider a SAD Light. Take a look at the options at www.sadlight.com.

Click here for more information  on this device

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