From before treatment to after treatment, the brain area increased in size by an average of 83 percent. This is the first time we have seen, in effect, the re-wiring of the brain as a result of physical therapy after a stroke. Researchers say the therapy is effective in virtually every patient who begins treatment with at least some slight movement in the hand or foot. Word of the Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy study's impressive results is traveling fast. Already, the National Institutes of Health is now conducting its own research on the new treatment.
Strokes are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart disease and cancer.
28 percent of the people who suffer a stroke in a given year are under the age of 65. For people over the age of 55, the incidence of stroke more than doubles in each successive decade. About 4.4 million stroke survivors are alive today. From 1987 to 1997, the stroke death rate fell 13.9 percent, but the actual number of stroke deaths rose 6.6 percent. ABC News Internet Ventures.