--- title: Prozac Aids Recovery from Stroke description: A new study finds that Prozac can significantly improve recovery from stroke— the number one cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7142874/prozac-aids-recovery-from-stroke/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-01-11T16:45:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:18:46.331Z article:section: Health og:title: Prozac Aids Recovery from Stroke og:description: A new study finds that Prozac can significantly improve recovery from stroke— the number one cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7142874/prozac-aids-recovery-from-stroke/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35b114ceb2bb848b/698a94eccabb1d5e8fe5a7fa/74365516prozacstroke1-11-11crop.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: 74365516prozacstroke1-11-11crop og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Prozac Aids Recovery from Stroke twitter:description: A new study finds that Prozac can significantly improve recovery from stroke— the number one cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35b114ceb2bb848b/698a94eccabb1d5e8fe5a7fa/74365516prozacstroke1-11-11crop.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Prozac Aids Recovery from Stroke > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=9fcd2223-26a8-462a-8280-d3cb30e8a869&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Jan 11, 2011 4:45 PM UTC  Craig Zuckerman by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Jan 11, 2011 4:45 PM UTC A new [study](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422%2810%2970314-8/fulltext) finds that Prozac can significantly improve recovery from stroke— the number one cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of death in the U.S. The randomized controlled trial found that while patients given placebo for three months starting 5-10 days after a stroke improved 24 points on a 100 point scale that measures functioning, those given the antidepressant improved by 34 points.more All patients were given standard physical therapy to aid recovery from weakness and paralysis caused by the stroke. The study included 118 patients— all of whom started out below 55 on that scale after surviving a stroke linked to a blood clot in the brain. That form of stroke—known technically as an ischemic stroke— is the most common type in the U.S. The improvement is large enough that for some patients, it could make a difference in their ability to live independently. The research was published in the journal _Lancet Neurology_. The co-author of an editorial that accompanied the study told [_WebMD_](http://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/20110107/antidepressants-may-aid-stroke-rehabilitation): --- > “” --- The study was funded by the French government and adds to a growing body of research linking SSRI antidepressants like Prozac to improvements following stroke. The benefits, say experts, go beyond the drugs’ effects on depression, which is also common after stroke. The findings add to research suggesting that these antidepressants may affect the brain not simply by raising serotonin levels—the popular explanation for their action— but by allowing the brain to repair damaged connections and add new ones. Almost all antidepressants, regardless of which neurotransmitters they initially affect, increase levels of substances that repair and stimulate the growth of brain cells a few weeks after they are started. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) also causes these kinds of changes. Probably not coincidentally, it typically takes a few weeks for such treatments to fully lift depression. The results also support research that links depression, cardiovascular disease and inflammation: another effect of SSRI’s on the brain is to reduce inflammation. Increased inflammation has been connected to both depression and cardiovascular disease in prior research. **More on TIME.com:** [Older Antidepressants but not SSRI’s Linked to Heart Disease](http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/02/study-older-antidepressants-but-not-ssris-linked-with-heart-disease/) [How a Study of a Failed Antidepressant Shows that the Drugs Really Work](http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/18/how-a-failed-antidepressant-study-shows-antidepressants-actually-work/) [](http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/18/how-a-failed-antidepressant-study-shows-antidepressants-actually-work/)[Can Antidepressants Help the Heart?](http://healthland.time.com/2010/04/26/can-antidepressants-have-heart-benefits/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7142874/prozac-aids-recovery-from-stroke/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7142874/prozac-aids-recovery-from-stroke/"},"headline":"Prozac Aids Recovery from Stroke","datePublished":"2011-01-11T16:45:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:18:46.331Z","description":"A new study finds that Prozac can significantly improve recovery from stroke— the number one cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7142874/prozac-aids-recovery-from-stroke/","keywords":["Stroke","Antidepressants"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35b114ceb2bb848b/698a94eccabb1d5e8fe5a7fa/74365516prozacstroke1-11-11crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35b114ceb2bb848b/698a94eccabb1d5e8fe5a7fa/74365516prozacstroke1-11-11crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"74365516prozacstroke1-11-11crop","caption":"","creditText":"Craig Zuckerman","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7142874/prozac-aids-recovery-from-stroke/","name":"Prozac Aids Recovery from Stroke"}}]}] ```