The researchers from the University of Iowa instigated the research and found that people taking ‘escitalopram’ drug after a stroke had better recall function than those who did not take this drug.
Dr Ricardo E. Jorge, MD of the University and lead author of the present research affirms, “When compared with patients who received placebo or underwent Problem Solving Therapy, stroke patients who received escitalopram showed improvement in global cognitive functioning, specifically in verbal and visual memory functions.”
“This beneficial effect of escitalopram was independent of its effect on depression
. The utility of antidepressants in the process of post-stroke recovery should be further investigated,” he adds.
How does a stroke affect the brain
A stroke is caused when clotting of blood leads to blocking of the blood vessels in the brain. It suspends the flow of blood to the brain and as a result of this brain cells start decaying.
A person, who has suffered a stroke, may encounter problems like difficulty in moving one side of the body, difficulty in speaking and disrupted cognitive functioning of the brain.
Study details
129 people who had suffered a stroke were randomly divided into three groups by the researchers. One group was given escitalopram, the second wasn’t given any drug while‘Problem Solving Therapy’ was used in the last group.
After a period of one year, the researchers evaluated all the groups for cognitive recovery including verbal function and visual memory on the basis of scores using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).
On analysis, differences were found in the RBANS total score and RBANS delayed memory score.The researchers noted that the group taking the antidepressant showed a mean change of 10.0 points while people not getting the drug showed a mean score of 3.1 points.
Overall, people taking the drug showed significant improvements in their memory function.
Need for larger trial
Neurologists feel that the sample size of this randomized controlled trial was very small and so the study findings cannot be generalized for all. They called for a larger study to validate the research findings.
Also, antidepressants can only be used by people under depression and not everyone who has had a stroke is recommended to take the drug.
The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and has been published in the journal of the American Medical Association , ‘Archives of General Psychiatry’.
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