As has been shared by a team of scientists from the University of California, Irvin, a new therapy might soon be able to restore the functioning of limbs after the injury suffered by stroke patients.

Researchers have been able to find a naturally-occurring protein in the body, which, it has been revealed, was able to restore motor functions in rats after they had suffered a stroke. When the protein is administered directly to the brain, it appeared to restore about 99% of the lost movement. If given via the nose, on the other hand, 70% of the lost movement seemed to have come back.

Untreated rates, however, only managed to gain back 30% of the functionality.

"No drugs exist that will help a stroke after a few days. If you have a stroke, you don't have many treatment options. Now we have evidence there may be therapies that can repair damage to a significant degree long after the stroke. It's a completely unexpected and remarkable finding, and it's worth trying in humans", said senior co-author of the study James Fallon.

Details of the study have been published in the journal Neuroscience.