Thaindian News

Washington, July 14 (IANS) Researchers have found that common types of strokes can be completely prevented in rats by stimulating a single whisker, suggesting that similar results could be possible in humans as well.
So should men be tickling their own beards? And what about women, who are less likely to have facial hair?

A stroke usually happens when the main artery, bringing oxygen and nutrients to the brain, either ruptures or is blocked by a clot, causing partial brain death.

“Human beings have sensitive body parts wired to the same area of the brain as rodents’ fine-tuned whiskers. So stimulating the fingers, lips or face in general could have a similar effect,” researchers said, according to the journal Public Library of Science One.

“It’s gender-neutral. This is just the beginning of the whole story with the potential for doing things before a victim even reaches the emergency room,” says Ron Frostig, professor of neurobiology & behaviour, University of California, Irvine.

Frostig, who co-authored the study with doctoral student Melissa Davis, discovered that mechanically stroking just one whisker for four minutes within the first two hours of the blockage caused the blood to quickly flow to other arteries.

However, the alternate arteries expanded beyond their normal size, opening wide to allow critical blood flow to the brain, says a university release.

The technique was 100 percent effective in preventing strokes in rats with arterial obstruction.

Strokes are the third largest cause of death in the US after heart disease and cancer.