Olives aid stroke victims

Studies at the university of Jaen have discovered a compound in olive oil may help the recovery of stroke victims. 

Hydroxytyrosol, present in olives, improves the treatment of patients who have suffered a stroke. According to the Fundación Descubre, this opens up the door to further and larger-scale studies.

Strokes are suffered at a rate of every 6 minutes in Spain. Caused by a suffocation of nerve calls in the brain, the after-effects of which, whether mild of severe, lead to a lack of coordination to reduced vision, language difficulties, cognitive or sensory disorders, or even death.

Olives: high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

Recovery depends on the level of initial damage and proper rehabilitation to restore, as far as possible, the brain damage caused. In Jaen University’s article, ‘Hydroxytyrosol, a Promising Supplement in the Management of Human Stroke’, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, researchers present the results of the exploratory study carried out on patients who have been administered hydroxytyrosol (HT), a compound extracted from the olive tree, with high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Previously, researchers had carried out tests on mice, observing that dietary supplementation with this compound restored connectivity in different areas of the brain, increased strength in the legs and even improved memory and learning capacity.  The trials were based on the monitoring of eight patients who had suffered an ischemic stroke. Half of them were given a nutritional supplement containing 15 milligrams of hydroxytyrosol every 24 hours for 45 days.

Patients given olive oil showed better results

At the neurological level, different tests to measure the level of deterioration, such as the so-called Rankin scale, which assesses the degree of disability or dependence in daily activities, indicated that patients given supplements with HT showed better results. Scientists are already working on expanding this study so that the initial results can be validated with a larger number of treated patients and to extend its use as a complement in the treatment of strokes.