New research in animals shows being given a growth hormone could help recovery after a stroke.
A study presented at the World Congress of Neuroscience in Melbourne shows rats given injections of growth hormone directly into the brain made a complete recovery after seven days.
Dr Arjan Scheepens from the University of Auckland says the research could translate to humans in the long term.
"We saw that the rats that were given growth hormone treatment for a long time, a six week chronic treatment, they improved motor function very, very quickly," he said.
"[They recovered] much more quickly than than the rats that didn't receive growth hormone."
He says the research could translate to patients, as the growth hormone is already used safely in humans.