GetHealthyHarlem.org's Health Advisory Board member, Dr. Olajide Williams, was recently interviewed by NPR (National Public Radio) about his new book called Stroke Diaries: A Guide for Survivors and their Families.

Stroke Diaries is a book of personal stories of stroke survivors alongside Dr. Williams' commentary based on his clinical experience with community stroke prevention. It also includes easy-to-understand medical explanations about stroke prevention, different forms of strokes, managing symptoms after stroke, and recovery.

NPR's Rebecca Roberts of "Talk of the Nation" interviewed Dr. Williams about his book and about stroke in general.

To listen to the interview, click here.

I learned a lot from the interview about many aspects of stroke. For example, Dr. Williams said that across all socioeconomic and educational classes, people have trouble naming the symptoms of stroke and that if the symptoms are recognized, it can be life-saving. During the interview, he reminded us an easy acronym F.A.S.T. that can be used to remember the symptoms of a stroke and what to do:

• F is for Face: if someone has a drooping face or it is asymmetrical/uneven, they may be having a stroke.
• A is for Arm: have the person raise both arms in the air. If one of the arms can't be raised or if it drifts down, the person might be having a stroke.
• S is for Speech: if the person has slurred, incomprehensible, incoherent, or not understandable speech, or s/he is unable to understand spoken word, s/he may be having a stroke. 
• T is for Time: this is an action step. If any of the previous symptoms are occurring it is important to call 9-1-1 immediately. This is because the person can get a clot-busiting medication at the hospital, which re-opens the blood vessels and restores blood to the brain (80% of strokes is due to blood clots and blood vessels being blocked).

All that information was in the interview, plus a lot more so it's worth listening to. Some other things I learned were:

• Hospitals can be stroke center certified. So if someone you know is having a stroke, you can call 9-1-1 and tell them and the patient can be taken to that hospital.
• If your first-degree family member (mother, father, brother, sister) has had a stroke, you might be at greater risk. You can talk to your doctor about ways to reduce your risk (Dr. Williams talks about leading a healthy life which includes eating healthy, exercising, and not using tobacco--read more on how to do this on GetHealthyHarlem.org!).
• There is no ceiling or plateau of when a stroke survivors stops improving or recovering after having a stroke. Dr. Williams said patients can continue to recover 10-15 years after the stroke.

I definitely recommend listening to the interview so you can learn more about Stroke Diaries and the various aspects about stroke. It's a really interesting interview. Also, be sure to search "stroke" in the GetHealthyHarlem.org search box to learn about stroke from various health experts in Northern Manhattan.

To read more about one of Dr. Williams' stroke projects, click here.