Stroke is the number one cause of adultdisability. But it doesn't have to be that way. Infact, if someone having a stroke gets to the hospitalin time, drugs used to break up the blood clot in thebrain that's causing the stroke can prevent much ofthe damage.

中风是致使成年人残疾的第一大疾病。但是种情形是可以挽回的。事实上，如果中风的病人被及时送往医院，及时接受可以消除脑部血块的药物治疗，可以避免中风引起的更大的身体损害。

But the treatment is only effective if the patient gets to the hospital within three hoursafter the stroke begins. And the problem is that only three percent of stroke victims gettreatment within that short window. Why? Because most people aren't familiar with the telltalesigns of stroke. Even people having a stroke don't always recognize it as such.

但是前提是病人中风后3个小时之内被送往医院，否则治疗无效。问题是只有3%的中风病人在这么短的时间内接受到治疗。为什么?因为大多数人都不清楚中风的病征，即使是中风者本人也未必能意识到。

So, determined to improve the number of stroke victims who get to the hospital in time,the National Stroke Association came up with a plan. The program is called Hip Hop Stroke, andit uses rap music to teach school kids to recognize stroke symptoms. One of the raps is about"FAST," a mnemonic for Face, Arm, Speech and Time. When a stroke hits, symptoms includedroopiness in the face, weakness in the arm, and slurred speech. Recognizing these symptomsin time is crucial for getting a stroke victim to the hospital as quickly as possible.

因此为了增加中风病人被及时送往医院的几率，美国国家中风协会想到一个计划。这项计划叫做嘻哈治疗中风，即利用说唱教在校学生识别中风的病征。其中一首帮助记忆说唱歌曲“FAST”，这四个字母分别代表脸部，胳膊，话语和时间。发病时，患者会脸部歪斜，四肢无力，语言謇涩。及时识别出这些病征对患者很重要，这样他们才能尽快得被送往医院。

Does Hip Hop Stroke work? According to one study measuring the program's effectiveness,the answer is yes. Researchers tested more than five-hundred school kids in New York City whoparticipated in the three one-hour sessions. They found that kids exposed to Hip Hop Strokeretain the knowledge for at least three months. The researchers believe that over time, HipHop Stroke could help many more stroke victims get the help they need, on time.

这种嘻哈治疗中风有效吗?研究者对此做过调查，根据调查结果，此计划是有效的。研究者以纽约市的500名在校学生为调查对象，这些学生均参加过每周3次，每次1小时的课程。他们发现接触过嘻哈中风的孩子们会保留对这些知识的记忆，至少3个月。研究者相信，以后嘻哈中风会帮助更多的中风患者及时接受治疗。