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Pumping iron: Rx for stroke recovery. Can weight training improve the prognosis for people recovering from stroke? Roger Fielding, an associate professor of health sciences at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will test that hypothesis in a new two-year study funded by a $251,000 grant from the New York City—based Langeloth Foundation. Fielding and his associates will work with stroke survivors in a randomized, controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of high-intensity, progressive resistance training in helping stroke survivors regain mobility and
other lost functions.

Stroke is one of the major public health problems in the United States, striking 600,000 people a year. It is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. Results of nerve damage from stroke include impairment of mobility, speech, vision, processing sensory information, muscle control, and language ability.

Recent studies have found small but significant increases in strength and function resulting from combined strength and aerobic training. Fielding’s will be the first controlled, randomized study aimed at determining whether continued rehabilitation of muscle strength can generate long-term improvement in the overall function of stroke survivors.

Fielding has pioneered in the study of strength training for the elderly. His recent work, supported by a Brookdale National Fellowship, along with a grant from the American Federation for Aging Research, compared the effectiveness of power training to traditional training in protecting frail elderly women from fall-related injuries.

Downsizing may be bad for your health. In the midst of a workplace that is being downsized, employees who are well informed and who perceive the process to be fair are less likely to have negative health effects than those who are not informed, according to the results of a five-year study of the health and organizational effects on workers of workplace restructuring and downsizing.

Conducted by the School of Public Health, the study, the largest of its kind, surveyed more than 10,000 Department of Energy (DOE) employees, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Nevada Test Site, the Oak Ridge Y-12 Facility, the Idaho National Environment and Energy Laboratory, and the Pantex Plant.

"We found that employees who perceived a fair process of downsizing reported fewer medical symptoms and conditions, lower occurrence of survivor syndrome symptoms, greater job security, and higher employee morale," says principal investigator Lewis Pepper, an SPH assistant professor of health. "Additionally, union members reported fewer medical problems and lower perceived stress than non—bargain unit employees." Employees who had negative experiences reported more medical problems, poor health, compromised mental health, more stress, job insecurity, and
poor work performance.

Since 1993, there have been 46,000 layoffs of prime contractor employees at DOE sites. More than 14,000 DOE employees at the five sites were downsized through voluntary and involuntary layoffs during the study period.

"Research Briefs" is written by Joan Schwartz in the Office of the Provost. To read more about BU research, visit http://www.bu.edu/research.

4 December 2000
Boston University
Office of University Relations