Ayurvedic treatment in the rehabilitation of ischemic stroke patients in India: A randomized controlled trial (RESTORE).

This article reports on a multi-center, randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in India comparing Ayurvedic Rehabilitation Therapy (ART) with physiotherapy (PT) for sensorimotor recovery in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. The primary outcome measured was upper extremity sensorimotor recovery using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment–upper extremity (FMA-UE) at three months, with secondary outcomes including functional disability, activities of daily living, postural balance, and quality of life. Results showed that PT was not inferior and tended to have better outcomes than ART, although after adjusting for baseline differences, no statistically significant superiority of either treatment was found. The study concluded that the ART protocol used was not superior to PT in improving stroke recovery, and recommended further RCTs with longer and possibly modified Ayurvedic interventions to better assess efficacy and safety.