Mitochondria Stroke Protection: Exercise and Brain Health

physical rehabilitation and symptom management still remain ⁤teh mainstay of treatment for stroke, as clot ⁣removal or dissolution is effective only within a narrow time ‍frame after the stroke. After that, many patients are left with long-term problems like difficulty walking, speaking,‌ and memory decline.

Exercise has been beneficial in​ preventing strokes ⁣and ‌improving ⁤recovery. Though,the majority of ​these patients,being elderly,are to frail to exercise enough to gain these‍ benefits.

In a study published in the journal⁤ MedComm, a team of researchers led by Research ⁢Assistant Professor​ Toshiki Inaba​ from ⁤the Department⁤ of Neurology, Juntendo⁣ University School of Medicine, Japan, along with ​Dr. Nobukazu Miyamoto and Dr. ‌Nobutaka Hattori from Juntendo University School of Medicine, Japan, explored⁤ how exercise protects the ⁣brain against stroke at ​a biological level through⁣ mitochondrial migration.

“It was ⁤during my research fellowship with Assistant Professor Kazuhide Hayakawa at Massachusetts ⁤General Hospital/Harvard Medical School that I first observed​ that these mitochondria could travel from one cell to another, leading to the realization that ​mitochondrial transfer could be harnessed for a wide range of therapeutic ⁤applications. This motivated us to explore intercellular mitochondrial transfer as a novel treatment strategy