How do I know if I'm having a stroke?

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Hey, guys. Welcome to Sarah Has Questions. Today, we're gonna talk about

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stroke and there's an acronym you need to know. It's called BE

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FAST. Every letter counts and it will let you know when it's time to call

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911. Let's talk about it. I'm Sarah King and I have a lot of

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questions. What exactly happens when you orgasm physically?

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Will popping a knuckle or a joint give us arthritis? What can we

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learn from our poop? The size of your body doesn't necessarily indicate your

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measure of health. Yes. And what are your thoughts on that? Cleansing.

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Do we need to do anything special to our nether

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regions? In this show, I get to ask all these questions to

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WakeMed doctors who happen to know everything about

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everything. Sarah has questions is a production of Capital Broadcasting

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Company and Mix 101.5. It's presented by WakeMed.

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So today, we have doctor Kilaria who is a vascular

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neurologist and the medical stroke director at

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WakeMed here in Raleigh. Welcome. Thank you for having me. And today, we're gonna

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talk about women and stroke. I mean, strokes happen to men and to women.

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Mhmm. But it seems like they happen to women more. But

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before we get into that, let's just get to the very basics. What

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exactly is a stroke? I'm really glad you started with that question because I

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found that a lot of patients use the word stroke a lot. It's used a

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lot in in just common talk. Mhmm. But most people don't know what's happening to

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their body. So, there are pipes that carry blood throughout our body

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to our brain as well, of course, and these pipes or blood

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vessels, if they can't get the blood where it needs to go, that's what a

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stroke is. So either you'll have a blocked pipe, which is called an ischemic

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stroke Okay. Or the pipe bursts, and that's called a hemorrhagic stroke.

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And that's a bleeding type stroke. And so that's what a stroke is, blood not

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reaching where it needs to go. So can I have a stroke to my

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hand? You can have a blood clot that goes to your hand.

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And and, I mean so but that's not gonna present itself the way one that

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happens to your brain is. That's right. And so you you as a vascular

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neurologist deal with all all types of strokes that way. How how is it

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different than a bruise? So you know what's interesting? I

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actually sometimes describe it as a bruise to the brain. Okay. But what really

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happens, more unfortunately, is that when that oxygen and

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nutrients are cut off from the brain, that part of the brain, those brain cells

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start dying quite quickly. Okay. And so then whatever that

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function of the brain was starts to deteriorate. So if it's moving your right

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hand, you won't be able to move your right hand as well. What you're saying.

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Okay. Alright. So now we can get into the demographics. Why do

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women have strokes more often than men? Yeah. So, a lot of

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different risk factors, that are similar to men. But in general,

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women live longer, and stroke becomes, more

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increased prevalence as you get older. And so, about

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55,000 more women than men in general will have a stroke in

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a year. Oh, wow. And so, it it does become more common in women, which

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is which is surprising for a lot of people. So does the type of stroke,

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like, the hem how did you say? The hemorrhoid?

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Hemorrhagic. Hemorrhagic. Is that more

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common as you get older because our walls of our veins and things get

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thinner, or do they both happen just as frequently? They both

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are similar in, how often they happen throughout a lifetime. Okay. And in

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general, about for for strokes, about 85% will be the

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ischemic stroke, so the blocked pipe. Okay. And then, the rest will be the

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burst pipe, the hemorrhagic stroke. So let's talk about the ischemic.

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Yes. How does a pipe a pipe get blocked? What is it getting

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blocked with? Yeah. That's a great question. So, a lot of times,

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blood clots can form in the heart, for example, from a risk factor called atrial

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fibrillation. So atrial fibrillation is, a disease of the heart where

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it's not beating to a drummer that we understand. It is, beating

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irregularly. Mhmm. And when that happens, if blood sits in the heart for longer than

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it was meant to, it can form a clot. Oh, wow. Then when the heart

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pumps, that clot goes up Yeah. Goes until it stops. If it finds a pipe

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in the brain, it'll stop where it stops. Yeah. And then that's when the damage

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happens. So that's one way that you can have a stroke for a blocked pipe.

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I see. And then some of the other ways are, you know, as we get

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older and then depending on how healthy your lifestyle is Mhmm. You can have what's

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called atheromatous plaques. And so to break that down, that sounds word

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Greek. Like hero. It's not a hero. It is a villain. Yeah.

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And so, so that villain will, sometimes break apart from, for

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examples, arteries in our neck where where you can have that plaque build up,

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and that can go up and block a pipe as well. And is that from

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things like cholesterol? Yes. Cholesterol plays a big part in that. And

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then it also happens just with general aging that that we get these types of

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buildups in our in our body. Are there more because just like you're thinking on

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roads, there are more places on roads that that tend to bottleneck,

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and you get, like, a a pooling of traffic. Are there places in our body

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that you see strokes more often? Yeah. So, usually, strokes

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more often happen in what we call the front part of the brain, the anterior

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circulation. And so, the big two pipes in front of the neck

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here called the carotid arteries that take blood up to the neck. Mhmm. Throughout

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that piping system, you have more often blockages than in the back part of

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the brain. Oh. But in the back part of the brain, when those blockages happen,

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obviously, they're also catastrophic and and can be very dangerous. Oh, yeah. I'm

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surprised that these clots form in the heart with the effibration. I I mean, no.

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I just slurred that a little bit, but you know what I'm trying to say.

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AFib, we can say. Oh, AFib. Yes. There we go. There we go. Yeah. I'm

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surprised that I mean, how long how how he regulates his heartbeat? I

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mean, it seems like these clots can form extremely quickly. They can. They can. It

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can form very quickly. And one of the challenging things is that atrial

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fibrillation, most people don't feel it. It is something that you

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have to think about and ask your doctor to potentially be screened for.

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For example, over the age of 75 Mhmm. There are more women than

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men who have atrial fibrillation. And so keeping that in mind, and if you

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do feel like I have some palpitations, asking your doctor

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about that, having your pulse checked, asking for an EKG, those kinds of

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things are very important. Because if you catch atrial fibrillation,

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there are medications, blood thinners that can help prevent a stroke, much

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better than aspirin, for example. And so knowing about it and asking about it is

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important. Oh, interesting. Okay. Let's talk about symptoms of

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stroke real quick, and we'll get back to the healthy lifestyle because I'm not letting

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you off the hook, though, on that one. What so I I've

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I've heard that, you know, slurred speech,

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confusion. What are the symptoms of a stroke? I'm I'm

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assuming there are more than this, those 2. Yes. Absolutely. So, when

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we educate on stroke, we like the, the people in the world to

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know about, some some key main systems. Okay. And so using the

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acronym BE FAST is helpful. And so the b stands for

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balance. If all of a sudden you're trying to walk and you can't walk, you're

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tilting to the left and you can't understand why. You're just just not able to

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walk. That's that could be a a sign of stroke. Okay. If you all of

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a sudden are seeing double, your vision is gone. You can only see half of

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your world. That can be a sign of stroke. And so that's the e for

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eye. Mhmm. F is for face, and that's a common one people kinda think of

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is is your face drooping. And and so that's that's one of the other signs

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of stroke. A is for arm. Mhmm. And so if your arm, you try and

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lift it up and it's one arm is not going up as high as the

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other, something's wrong with your arm, that's a sign of stroke. Okay. And then s

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is for speech. And so if you're all of a sudden not able to talk

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well or not able to understand what people are telling you Yeah. That's a sign

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of stroke as well. Mhmm. And then the t, to to wrap up the

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t fast is time. And so calling 911 is incredibly important.

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And one of the big take homes is, if you try and get to the

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hospital yourself, you will delay your care. Calling 911

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helps because, EMS starts blood draws. They start a line, and they also let

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the ER know you're coming. And, ER will be set up

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with the doctors waiting for you when you arrive. But if you are confused,

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how are you supposed to call yourself? Like, I mean, I'm assuming that that's

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in that moment because how often have you perhaps, like, had low blood sugar? You

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know? And, like, you feel a little disoriented. Should I call in that moment and

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say I might be having a stroke? Or you know, like, thinking about it in

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my real life terms if I would have the cognizance to say

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this is probably a stroke, especially if you're confused in that moment. Yeah.

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What's interesting is that confusion is one of the symptoms that

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women complain of more than men, and it makes it more challenging. It's because men

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are always confused. Yes. Yes. That's that's their baseline. Yes.

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Just kidding. No. It's okay. I don't think we're here to determine, who's better, men

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or women. No. Definitely not. If something comes out, then that's fine.

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But, with, with the confusion, that's very

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challenging. And so, if you live alone, it's it's more sis

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setting up systems of support so that, you know, do you check does someone check-in

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with you regularly? Those kinds of things are important. Right. But, otherwise, as as a

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family or if you live with other people, you're gonna be relying on them really

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to recognize these signs and symptoms of stroke in you. So if your

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loved one's confused, look at their face. See if it's drooping. Try and

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ask them to hold their arm up. Try and ask them to talk, and then

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call 911 if those things are not going well. And if you're and if you're

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able to and you feel confused, go look in a mirror and try those things.

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And and, you'd be surprised that even through that type of

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confusion, it's not an all or none. It's something's off. You don't you

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feel quiet. And, the the,

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good and bad thing about stroke is stroke doesn't tend to hurt. And so we

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find that most people will feel off and try and rest at home.

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Right. And that's dangerous. Yeah. Because it I've always heard time is a

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is of the essence. That's right. That's right. Time is brain. And so,

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resting at home is not something you wanna do. You want to try and look

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in the mirror, look at your face, raise your arm up. And and if you're

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worried at all, calling 911 is appropriate. Getting the help you need. It's better to

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be safe than sorry. Absolutely. Yeah. For sure. For women,

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are there any unusual symptoms that men don't tend to have? Yeah.

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Nausea is one of them, fatigue. Mhmm. And so I say

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that with, a bit of caution in that if you're only nauseous

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or just fatigued, you know, I think you know your body, and you know when

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something's different. And I think using that internal radar is very important.

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Mhmm. But if you have any other of those signs of stroke

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also, then don't think that it's just the fatigue is something is something

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normal. Right. Don't think the nausea oh, I I must have just ate something bad.

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Yeah. Those can be signs of stroke. So coupled with the B. F. A. S.

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That we ask people to recognize Okay. As more clear signs of stroke,

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knowing that women may be a little more confused, a little more fatigued and nauseous,

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and that doesn't mean they're not having a stroke. Okay. So that's the only other

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extra one for women. I wonder if it's along the lines of heart attack in

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women, whereas the atypical are only called atypical

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because we never studied female bodies. That's right. And we know females have

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been underrepresented in research and literature, and are trying to be more

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recently. But They die. It's

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2024. Yeah. We'll be right

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back because you know I

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have more questions. For

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women, the common traditional risk factors for stroke, similar to

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men, are gonna be most important throughout their lifetime. Okay. And we can talk about

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some of the other, unique risk factors for women Uh-huh. That do increase the risk

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of stroke. But if nothing else, you wanna focus on those traditional ones. So high

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blood pressure, high blood pressure, high blood pressure. I say that three times

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because if I was given a magic button to cure one ailment in

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the world, it would be high blood pressure. Oh, interesting. Downstream has

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so many effects. Oh. So high blood pressure is, the number

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one risk for stroke. It's, you know, worldwide, that's the number one

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preventable risk. What is it about high blood pressure that causes

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stroke? So it's the the wear and tear on the on the pipes, on

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those vessels. And so if you can imagine a hose, this is sort of the

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analogy I like to use in my patients. If you're gonna run that hose at

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full force 247, eventually, it's gonna collapse on you.

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It's gonna potentially burst, you know, and it's it's not gonna work. And so,

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the the vessels take that strain of high blood pressure, and it can cause stroke

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in so many different ways. And so, high blood pressure is one of the main

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risk factors to think about. And if your doctor says you're he's

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they're worried about blood pressure in, in you as a patient, I would spend as

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as much energy as possible trying to to get rid of that. Get rid of

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that. Do what you gotta do. And then, of course, we have diabetes. Mhmm. High

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cholesterol, and smoking is a big risk factor as well. Okay.

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And then atrial fibrillation, the AFib that we talked about, especially as you get

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older Mhmm. That's a that's one of the ones that can cause some of the

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most devastating strokes. Okay. And how about for women? What are the specific risk

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factors in women? Sure. So for women, what's interesting is

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that younger women, I think, need to be more aware of stroke than

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men. Are you seeing it more in younger women now? Yes. I in

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general, I feel like we're seeing stroke in younger patients more often than

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before. Does stress have any part to do with that? I think so. I think

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that, because stress doesn't help us take care of our other illnesses. That's true.

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And I think that's that's one of the main, one of the main reasons, but

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also, stress in and of itself. But for women,

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especially young women, pregnancy is is a unique time when they

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can be at risk for stroke. Okay. Using oral contraception is another,

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increased risk for stroke. You smoke. And especially if you smoke. Especially. Yes. If you're

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gonna be on an oral contraceptive, with estrogen, you

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really gotta quit smoking. You know? And your doctor has to think twice before putting

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you on that. What is it about? Does the smoke attach to the why do

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you I mean, I don't know if you don't know the answer to this, but,

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like, if you're taking a birth control pill that is estrogen, progesterone, what

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is it about smoking that makes it so dangerous? Yeah. That's a good question.

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I can't say I could answer that exactly, but I you know, we know

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smoking by itself increases risk of stroke. Uh-huh. And then we know that oral contraception,

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especially estrogen based contraception, increases risk of stroke. And when you combine

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risks, they really accelerate. I see. And so that's that's the something

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that that happens. I see. Okay. And how about hormonal

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changes in women? Yes. That's a good question. So the other, time in a

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woman's life where you're at increased risk of stroke would be potentially postmenopause,

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especially if you're using the hormone replacement therapies. Oh, great. Yes. Just one more thing

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to attack on to that postmenopausal time in life. Yes. I always think it's interesting

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that you could be at increased risk of stroke if you're using the birth control,

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but then also an increased risk of stroke if you're pregnant. Yeah. So Yeah. You're

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just still winning. You could be in one of those states at any any point.

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How about alcohol? Does that do anything? Does that mean smoking causes an

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increase? How about alcohol? You know, directly, in and of

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itself, alcohol is not necessarily linked with stroke, but

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alcohol increase your blood pressure. You know? So, again, you know, so, a lot of

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times people find that if they are drinking, in excess and they cut

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back, their blood pressure, they may even get rid of 1 blood pressure pill. You

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know? So that's that's, one of the ways where we know that that

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consuming too much alcohol will increase your risk That makes sense. In in sort of

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by, causing high blood pressure. Well, you know, and you're talking about the one where

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the the blockages that cause the stroke. Ischemic. Is that

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right? Ischemic. Ischemic. I was close. Yeah. I was so down right there.

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So I have low blood pressure from time to time. Is that at all a

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risk factor? It can be, because we know that it's all about getting

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the right amount of blood to the brain. Yeah. And so if you're low enough

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where you're passing out Yeah. That would be problematic. Okay. You know?

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Especially if we talked about having some of that plaque in your pipes. Yeah. You

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know? So now yes. And so I know this is a piping podcast

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now. We're just we're we're I sound like I'm talking to a plumber. Yeah. We're

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plumbers here. We are. And so with,

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if you have a extra plaque in your pipe and it's already tight, then you

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can imagine that if your blood pressure drops too low, that'll take away the the

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blood that the brain needs. Yes. I know. That makes sense. But in general,

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to blow blood pressure, if you're able to walk around and function, is great.

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Okay. Well, that's good. Yep. So if you're walking and everything seems fine, I'm here.

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Yeah. I don't have it all the time, but every once in a while, I'll

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stand up and I'll feel real woozy. Right. And I have had doctors tell me

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numerous doctors tell me that I have low blood pressure. Okay. Just a fun fact

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about me. So let's talk about the healthy lifestyle.

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Sure. So and this is I'm assuming before you answer, that's probably

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got something to do with lowering your blood pressure. Mhmm. And so I'm assuming exercise

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is in there. That's right. That's right. So what else what other things can we

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do to lower our risk for stroke? Yes. So one word about the

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exercise is that I have so many patients say, you know, doc, I am on

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my feet all day at work. Oh, yeah. And I get that. And it's good.

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It's not you know, not being sedentary is important. Being up and active, walking

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around is very important. Okay. But you really got to have that time in

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your week where you change into exercise clothes and build up a sweat, you

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know, moderate exercise. And so you wanna do that at least 4 or 5 times

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a week for at least 30 minutes. Mhmm. And that's that's it because

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sometimes people think they're getting enough exercise because they're active at work, and it may

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not cut it. Yeah. You need to sweat. That's right. You need to just build

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up a sweat. Okay. And so that's one thing. Then also

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eating a healthy diet. Okay. And one thing that's been studied in stroke is something

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called the Mediterranean diet. Oh, yes. It's very popular. Yes. Yes. You know

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about all of that. Oh, yes. Yeah. And so that that's one thing to think

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about. And so I'll often ask I tell my patients when you're looking at your

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plate, half of it should be vegetables, Vegetables and fruits. You know? Really,

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a vegetable heavy, plant heavy diet is very good. But, you know,

283
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people like to eat meat as well. But when we look at our plates, it

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really is only about a quarter. 25% of that plate that should be lean

285
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meats, seafoods is probably gonna be the best thing for you. I'm hearing all these

286
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vegetables and fruit talk to. Is that because it's got fiber? I think fiber has

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a good good, good role in it. Fiber is awesome for a lot of things.

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And, like, the more I hear about it, I'm like I don't know. It just

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it it it makes me wonder if this is gonna help in this case as

290
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well. It is. It is. You know, a a good fiber in there, good whole

291
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grains, all those things. I think it's the sort of

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synergistic effect of all these foods together. Yeah. And then really paying attention

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to those portions and and focusing a little more on vegetables as much

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as we can would be good. So we've we know that when you when you've

295
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you when you've done the b fast and you your arm isn't raising, your face

296
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is dripping, you think you're having a stroke Mhmm. You should definitely not drive to

297
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the hospital. Right. And, can you just reiterate why that is?

298
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Absolutely. If you call 911, the paramedics are going to recognize the symptoms. They're trained

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in it. Yeah. And they can also recognize mimics and say, actually, this might be

300
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different. Maybe you had a seizure. Maybe something different. Palsy or something. Yeah. And

301
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then when, they're when you're en route, they'll be placing an IV, drawing blood

302
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that's needed to go to the lab emergently. And as soon as you get to

303
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the hospital, there's a team of doctors waiting, a team of doctors and nurses waiting

304
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to to really act fast and get you the medication you might

305
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need. And how is a stroke diagnosed once you get to the hospital? So

306
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it's it's through that exam is a very big part of it. Okay. And so

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at WakeMed, for example, we have a whole team of doctors that'll meet you.

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We actually have a stopping place in the hallway because this is how important it

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is to go fast. Yeah. They they stop. They do their exam. They take

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a quick history to find out, you know, when did this start? When were you

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last normal? Yeah. When were you really feeling fine? Yeah.

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And then they'll call, the the stroke doctors, talk

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about that, and the stroke doctor does their evaluation after you get out of the

314
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CAT scan. But they go straight from the hallway to the CAT scan. Uh-huh. Because,

315
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again, time is brain. Yeah. And if they have the opportunity to give you a

316
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clot busting medicine Mhmm. To break up that clot Yeah. That's that's something you're

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gonna want. So you keep saying time is brain. What happens when your brain

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doesn't get enough blood? So every minute, about 2,000,000

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brain cells die without blood. And then lose

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speech? Mhmm. That kind of thing? Absolutely. Absolutely.

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Speech, movement, balance, all those things.

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And, you know, as another example of of, I think

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sometimes this example helps me a little bit more is that the ischemic brain

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ages about 3.6 years every hour that you don't get

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treatment. Oh, wow. So sitting at home for that hour trying to figure out, is

326
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this really a stroke, or am I gonna just be fine, it can be really

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detrimental to your future and your health. And you'll lose, like, all these abilities. How

328
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interesting. Yes. So how does a stroke in the brain differ?

329
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Because you mentioned the bursting kind, the hemorrhoid

330
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Hemorrhagic. I'm the worst. No. You're probably I could get these words. These

331
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words today, you you're winning. How does it differ from an

332
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aneurysm? So that's that's a great question because a lot of people say I have

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an aneurysm, and they mean they may mean I had a stroke where I

334
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bled. Right. They actually may mean I had an ischemic stroke, a blocked pipe. So,

335
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again, these words get very confused in in the general public. But, what

336
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an aneurysm is is when the blood vessels are

337
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weak and they form a kind of bubble and that that outpouching. If you

338
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look at a picture of an aneurysm, you'll see, sort of a normal pipe, a

339
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little balloon like area, and another normal pipe. Okay. And so that's

340
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at risk of bleeding Uh-huh. And puts you at increased risk of a bleeding type

341
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stroke. Okay. Gotcha. Alright. I'm

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gonna do a little myth busting with you right now. Okay. Are

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there assumptions people make about strokes or stroke symptoms that are

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really dangerous? Assumptions. What are the people

345
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like, this myth you've heard that people say about stroke that just aren't true.

346
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Oh, that's an interesting question. I think that

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the the biggest assumption is that things are gonna be fine,

348
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and so staying at home Yeah. And and You can sleep it off. And sleep

349
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it off is is one of the the biggest problems Yeah. That I think of.

350
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One of the other, I think, assumptions

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that keeps people from really worrying about stroke in a way that we we

352
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want them to recognize because just like heart attacks, which which have got

353
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gotten a lot more publicity and and education out there Mhmm. This is this is

354
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a life threatening illness. I think people assume that a

355
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stroke is going to to sort of end your life. But,

356
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actually, the disability is one of the more devastating parts of

357
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it as, you know, as well. Is it more common for that than death?

358
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Getting the disability side, like, the Yes. The most severe of strokes leads to death,

359
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I would assume. That's right. But but, the vast

360
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majority of people can can survive the stroke, but then you're stuck

361
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with disability. And so, you know, that's that's another myth.

362
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And one of the other myths that I that sort of builds on

363
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that, is that I've had a stroke. I can't move my arm or

364
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leg, and that's gonna be permanent. I would say that's not true.

365
00:21:51.890 --> 00:21:55.170
Oh, that's good to know. Yes. There is healing. The brain tries to heal. It

366
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really does. Okay. And so you'll you'll with therapy, with aggressive

367
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therapy, and taking medications to prevent another stroke,

368
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you can get better. And so Okay. You know, you may not go back to

369
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a 100% depending on how severe your stroke is. Sure. But there's lots of people

370
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lots of survivors out there who've had a stroke and made a full recovery That's

371
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wonderful. As well. So to give give the you know, because depression is very common

372
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after stroke as well Of course. You know, just like with heart attack. Yeah. And

373
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so knowing that there's a lot of patients in in the bed when I see

374
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them in the hospital who say, oh, this is it. This is how I'm gonna

375
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be, and that's not true. Oh, that's that is great news. Is it true that

376
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neurons I've learned this a long time ago, and I don't know if it's true,

377
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so I'm gonna ask you, that neurons can't regenerate. That's

378
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correct. They do not regenerate. Okay. So when you lose neurons, which is what I

379
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assume when you mean time equals brain Right. You're not gonna be

380
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able to get those neurons back, but yet you still can. The brain can heal.

381
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Right. Right. So that recovery comes from, sort of neuroplasticity.

382
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So, really, the the surrounding neurons try and do their best

383
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to take over the task. It's kinda like every office after the pandemic.

384
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You lost all these employees, and everybody's trying to do else's job That's exactly right.

385
00:23:02.523 --> 00:23:06.292
For the same amount of money. That's exactly right. Okay. That's exactly right. So you

386
00:23:06.292 --> 00:23:10.061
can see where a complete recovery sometimes is hard. Yeah. I can see that. Yeah.

387
00:23:10.312 --> 00:23:14.081
Done. Okay. That's good to know. My mom had mini strokes a while back.

388
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Okay. What exactly is a mini stroke? Yes. So, mini

389
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stroke is usually synonymous with something called

390
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TIA or transient ischemic attack. Okay. And,

391
00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:28.559
another term people use for it is pre stroke. And so what I don't

392
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.025
like the thought of that. Yeah. Go ahead. And that's really what it is. It's

393
00:23:31.025 --> 00:23:34.705
a warning sign. It's a She changed her lifestyle, and it's it was probably 10

394
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years ago. So Oh, great. Hoping she's good. But so it's a it's like a

395
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tremor before an earthquake. That's right. And if you think about what's happening in the

396
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brain, it's that a pipe is going on to be blocked. It's

397
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it's it's it's almost there. It's it's struggling. And so people

398
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may say, all of a sudden, I couldn't move my arm my hand for 5

399
00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:55.700
minutes, and then it went away. Because there was a pipe there that was about

400
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to be blocked, had it gone on to completely stay blocked, you would have

401
00:23:59.304 --> 00:24:02.745
then had a full stroke. Correct. So it's a warning sign. Oh,

402
00:24:02.745 --> 00:24:06.184
wow. Okay. What are the what's the

403
00:24:06.184 --> 00:24:09.945
overall thing you want people to remember when they see

404
00:24:09.945 --> 00:24:13.560
the signs of stroke? Call 911. Okay. Yep. That's

405
00:24:13.560 --> 00:24:17.400
that's that's, I think, the the main message for, for

406
00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:21.160
how to get yourself the treatment. Because, one thing, that I that I wanna

407
00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:24.555
mention is that when you get to the hospital, if you get there

408
00:24:25.015 --> 00:24:28.155
in time, within 4 and a half hours of when the stroke would have started,

409
00:24:28.375 --> 00:24:32.215
there's a clot busting medicine that you can receive Oh, good. That that really improves

410
00:24:32.215 --> 00:24:35.895
outcomes. That's wonderful. Really important. But less than 10% of

411
00:24:35.895 --> 00:24:39.600
people reach less than 10% of people reach there in time to get that

412
00:24:39.600 --> 00:24:43.220
medicine. Wow. 4 and a half hours is a long time.

413
00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:46.320
Yep. But you can think about people to get it as minutes. I always thought

414
00:24:46.399 --> 00:24:50.080
I I'm sorry. I'm just shocked. I always thought that that you had mere minutes

415
00:24:50.080 --> 00:24:53.355
in order to, like, recognize it and be en route, But 4 hours

416
00:24:53.654 --> 00:24:55.812
and people still aren't making it. Correct. Wow. And and that and that's funny that

417
00:24:55.812 --> 00:24:57.815
you say that. I think 4 and a half hours is not enough. I wish

418
00:24:57.815 --> 00:25:00.375
we had a medicine that we could give even more. Yeah. Obviously. But, like But

419
00:25:00.855 --> 00:25:03.674
From what I had gleaned off of what I learned through

420
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media and elsewhere, I thought it was a much shorter time. Yes. And and

421
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but you're right. That every minute's important. We talked about how much you age every

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hour that you go without treatment, every minute. But that

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clopisting medicine can only be given to you if if we find

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that, time within 4 and a half hours of when it started.

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And then there's another treatment that's a possibility. If you have one of your larger

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pipes blocked, one of the ones that can actually be reached by

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a tool, you can get that clot pulled out. Okay. And so that's the other

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important thing. And that's why I say call 911 is that you have these therapies,

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but there's a finite time. Yeah. At which point, you can't get them. Yeah. Better

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be safe than sorry. Yep. Like, call them if you're worried. Just call them. Yes.

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Just call them. It's fine. Alright. Well, thank you so much for your time today.

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This was super informative. And if you live by yourself, and I'm

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looking at you, mom, because I know you're listening sometimes, you think you're having a

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stroke, go look in the mirror. Go look in the mirror, try to raise your

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arm. And, if you have to hold on the wall to get there, it's time

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to call 911. Right. Remember,

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be fast. Balance, eyes, face, arms,

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speech, and time. Don't wait it out and try to sleep it off.

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Call 911. My guest today was doctor Chandni

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Kallaria. To find out more about WakeMed's stroke program, go to wakemed.org

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and search stroke. If you have a question you'd like me to ask or an

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idea for a future episode, well, go to wralfm.com/sarahhasquestions.

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We would love to hear from you. Links to both sites are in the show

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notes. Okay. Remember, be fast. See you next

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time.