Research Concludes Building Blocks of Muscle Fibers Lost After a Stroke

After suffering from a stroke, patients can often be seen unable to use their limbs on the affected side. Often they hold their affected arm near their body while the elbow is flexed. A new study from researchers at Northwestern University collaborates with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab to discover the science behind the impairment.

What is a Stroke?

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A stroke, or sometimes known as a brain attack, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causes tissues in the brain to die. This leads to brain damage, disability, and in severe cases, death.

In 2018, roughly 1 in every 6 cardiovascular diseases was because of stroke. Where every 4 minutes in the US, a person dies from a stroke. Roughly 795,000 American citizens have a stroke annually.

There are 3 types of strokes. Treatment and recovery vary with the type of stroke a patient experiences.

Ischemic Stroke is the most common form of stroke, which takes up 87% of all stroke diagnoses. This happens when blood flow in the arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the brain is blocked, often caused by blood clots.

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Sarcomeres Loss, the Discovered Effects of Strokes to Muscle Composition

Researchers discovered in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, entitled "Serial sarcomere number is substantially decreased within the paretic biceps brachii in individuals with chronic hemiparetic stroke" that stroke causes the loss of sarcomeres, the basic building blocks of the muscles.

Stacked from end-to-end in a series, sarcomeres comprise the length and width of your muscle fibers. Researchers used bicep muscle images with 3 non-invasive methods; the team found that stroke patients had significantly fewer sarcomeres along the length of the muscle fibers, resulting in an overall shorter muscle structure.

The recent findings are consistent with common patient reports of abnormally stiff and tight muscles that resist stretching. This suggests that the changes in a stroke patient's muscles could amplify the existing issues caused by brain damage.

The team of researchers hopes that the new discovery improves rehabilitation techniques to rebuild lost sarcomeres, ultimately helping patients relieve muscle tightening and shortening.

Wendy Murray, senior author and associate professor of Medical Engineering, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, says that the most evidence of chronic impairments where the muscles are shortened positions are associated with the loss of a series of sarcomeres in humans, ScienceBlog reports.

Researchers combined medical imaging to get a better view of the muscle structure in stroke patients and establish possibilities to study the adaptations of muscles in sarcomere numbers. Researchers say that in about every facet of the world, there is a strong relationship between how things are put together and their functions.

Similar to how the human body works, the ability to have clear imaging of the body allows the medical professional to measure the structure of things and create specific treatments and rehabilitations that will cater to an individual stroke patient's needs for a swifter recovery.