NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A doctor who generally advises children to turn off electronic devices urges them to play "Stroke Hero," a video game that teaches kids to identify stroke symptoms and summon help, according to a new study.
"While I recognize the hazards of video games, and I recognize the need to limit screen time, what better way to enable children to save lives than to have them play a video game?" Dr. Olajide Williams, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
Americans suffer nearly 800,000 strokes a year, and on average, one American dies from stroke every four minutes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Treatment administered within four and a half hours of the first signs of stroke can save lives and reverse disabling symptoms, said Williams, who is chief of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center.
Better known as the Hip Hop Doc, Williams founded and runs Hip Hop Health, a public health organization that works with rap stars like Doug E Fresh to promote healthy living through music, videos and games.
Williams and rapper Artie Green designed Stroke Hero for an experiment with 210 low-income nine- and 10-year-olds in New York's Harlem neighborhood, where the neurologist estimates 15 to 20 percent of kids are raised by their grandparents - who are at high risk for stroke.
Some 25 percent of the fourth and fifth graders had a personal experience with a stroke victim, according to the study published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.
The game stresses the importance of speed in recognizing symptoms and immediately dialing 911.
Players use medicine to shoot down clots blocking the flow of blood traveling from the heart to the brain. When the clot-busting drugs run out, players must answer questions about stroke to refill a syringe.
After playing the video game, children given a hypothetical scenario were 33 percent more likely to recognize stroke and call an ambulance, Williams said. Participants retained the knowledge when they were tested seven weeks later.
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Kids learn how to identify stroke symptoms in video game