Each year in the United States, about 700,000 people suffer a stroke and about half of them become disabled as a result, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. If you've had a stroke, you know how difficult the recovery period can be. But you can make progress regaining your cognitive and motor skills if you give your body certain antioxidants that fight harmful substances called free radicals.
Alpha-lipoic Acid
Alpha-lipoic acid is an antioxidant compound that may reduce inflammation inside blood vessels, says the Linus Pauling Institute, making it possible for your blood vessels to heal after you suffer a stroke and helping to prevent another stroke. The University of Maryland Medical Center says that alpha-lipoic acid may prove useful in treating stroke in humans because research studies on animals showed that those who received alpha-lipoic acid were four times more likely to survive a stroke and suffered less brain damage than animals who didn't receive alpha-lipoic acid.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C also helps your blood vessels heal after a stroke. But vitamin C may help protect you from suffering another stroke, BBC News reports, since research studies have shown that people with high levels of vitamin C in their bloodstreams suffer strokes less often than people with low blood levels of vitamin C. Even if you've had multiple strokes, taking vitamin C may improve your cognitive function, the University of Maryland Medical Center says.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E may improve your memory after a stroke, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center, and some research studies on animals have shown that vitamin E also may reduce the amount of brain damage a stroke causes if taken before a stroke occurs. People who took vitamin E supplements as part of a research study conducted in 2000 by Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center -- many of whom had already suffered at least one stroke -- reduced their risk of suffering strokes by 53 percent compared to people who didn't take vitamin E supplements.
