This summer, junior Aalap Shah, the President and founder of HASA, will spend five hours every day training for a marathon intended to end strokes. The race, which will take place in Kona, Hawaii, is just one of the events endorsed by HASA, or the Hopkins Association for Stroke Awareness.
HASA was founded last September under the Center for Social Concern by Shah and several other Hopkins undergraduates including Bo Gu, Brittany Lu, Christina Warner and Allisandra Wen. These students, many of whom are involved in the neuroscience department, feel that strokes constitute a pressing health issue that does not receive enough attention.
"Although many people are unaware of it, strokes are the third leading cause of death in the United States," said Shah.
With that in mind, the students involved in HASA have implemented several measures in order to assess and treat those at risk of stroke in the Baltimore community. These measures include a daily interview program for patients in the Johns Hopkins Emergency Room, and a stroke rehabilitation program for in-patients at the hospital.
In the daily interview program, undergraduate volunteers act as student doctors as they conduct a brief interview in order to construct a patient history, allowing them to judge whether or not the patient is exhibiting signs of a stroke. In the event that a patient in the Emergency Room is demonstrating these signs, they are immediately evaluated by a doctor.
It is especially important for strokes to be treated immediately because they can cause permanent brain damage in a short amount of time. The FDA-approved drug to treat strokes is called tPA, or tissue plasminogen activator, which dissolves blood clots which occur in the brain. However, tPA is most effective when administered within three hours of the onset of the stroke. Thus it is crucial that the symptoms of a stroke are recognized and treated immediately.
In addition, these interviews allow students to experience real-life patient interaction.
"The patient interviews are important because they allow students to construct a patient history and also because they facilitate patient communication -- something which is very important in clinical experience," notes Shah, who is a pre-med student.
Although all of the members of HASA have volunteered to join this organization, many find it helpful in order to gain hands-on clinical experience before they decide to apply to medical school.
Another way in which HASA students have dealt with the issue of stroke awareness in the Baltimore community is by assisting with the Stroke Rehabilitation program at the hospital, which includes a stroke education class for inpatients. In this class, the students educate patients about conditions which can lead to a stroke, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Through informative reading materials and volunteer-patient interaction, HASA hopes to decrease the devastating effects of strokes.
With the brief overviews of family histories that are provided by the patient interviews, it is clear that the effects of strokes are widespread and damaging.
About 90 percent of the patients being interviewed mention that they have a close relative who has suffered from a stroke. With such an alarming rate, it is even more important for HASA to educate the Baltimore community.
Between its education and direct interaction with patients in the Johns Hopkins Hospital, HASA has made a lot of progress in the past few months, and they are only getting started. This summer, Shah, Bo Gu, Brittany Lu, Christina Warner and Allisandra Wen will participate in the American Stroke Association's marathon to End Stroke. As participants, these Hopkins students are required to raise $3200 each and undergo intensive training months before the actual event, which takes place on June 19th.
Although his teammates have opted to walk the 26.2 miles, also an admirable feat, Shah has been training every Saturday in order to run the 13.1-mile half-marathon. "Once the summer starts, I'm going to train everyday," said Shah.
In order to fundraise for this event, HASA has been receiving donations from students in Wolman from 5-7 p.m. everyday.
In addition, Shah and his teammates have requested financial help from a variety of neuroscience faculty, President Brody and even Michael Bloomberg. So far, HASA has received generous donations from the Johns Hopkins Medical School, as well as large corporations such as General Motors.
In addition to the End to Stroke Marathon, HASA has high hopes for the future. These hopes include guest speakers who have suffered from strokes such as Dick Clark or Sharon Stone.
Finally, Shah hopes that HASA will extend beyond Hopkins to include more East Coast universities.
To learn more about stroke awareness, visit HASA's tent at Spring Fair, April 30-May 1st. To sponsor a Hopkins student in the End Stroke Marathon, please visit http://TeamDCBaltimore.Kintera.org/Kona.
