UT Physician Offering Innovative Therapies
at New Stroke Recovery Clinic
HOUSTON – (July 25, 2006) – Elizabeth Noser, M.D., the stroke training and recovery program director at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, has developed a comprehensive stroke recovery clinic that includes robotic therapies and new studies.
Elizabeth Noser, M.D.
A variety of innovative treatments is now available at the HealthSouth Center for Neurological Research and Recovery, 7580 Fannin Street, Suite 205, which opened its doors earlier this month.
“This clinic is tailored to the needs, deficits and care of people who are recovering from a stroke,” said Noser, who serves as the director of the new center’s Stroke Recovery Program. “We’re offering the most cutting-edge therapy available, as well as access to clinical trials, stroke survivor groups and the latest in drug therapies.”
The clinic will include intensive constraint therapy, in which the limb not affected by the stroke is held in place while motor training is performed on the impaired limb. Studies using constraint therapy in small groups of chronic stroke patients have demonstrated improvement in dexterity and motor function.
Patients who have lost mobility may receive help from the “AutoAmbulator,” a sophisticated treadmill that holds a patient upright while robotics help move the legs in a normal walking pattern.
Other therapies available at the clinic include “stim” therapy (electrical stimulation of the muscles of the pharynx for treating swallowing disorders), interactive metronome (patients perform motor tasks in response to auditory and visual stimuli) and cortical implantation.
“For too long, people who have survived a stroke have been told, ‘You’re lucky you survived,’” Noser said. “People don’t realize how debilitating a stroke can be. It’s our goal, through this clinic, to help people regain as much control over their bodies, and their lives, as possible.”
Media Contact: Deborah Mann Lake
Media Hotline: 713-500-3030