Stroke therapy drug is 'promising'

A new drug which is being developed to ease the paralysis caused by strokes has been applauded by a leading charity, which believes it could put an end to the pain caused by the devastating illness.

The Daily Mail's report into the drug was picked up on by the Stroke Association, following experiments with rats by scientists which found that the drug restored up to 99 per cent of lost movement.

Joanne Murphy, the research liaison officer for the Stroke Association, said that while the research is interesting and has shown positive results already, it is only in the early stages and human trials of the drug are necessary to see if it has the same effect for humans affected by the debilitating occurrence.

"Every year in the UK 150,000 people have a stroke and a third of these will be left with a disability," Ms Murphy said. "Weakness or paralysis is one of the most common problems after a stroke. It usually happens on one side of the body and can leave stroke survivors with mobility issues."

Last year, it was revealed that the Department of Health's Act FAST campaign to respond to strokes had led to an increase of more than half in stroke calls to 999.

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