May 6, 2023 • 29 mins
Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Mary Partin, CEO of the Dan Marino Foundation. Mary Partin joins the show to discuss autism awareness, including the symptoms of autism, the prevalence of the condition throughout the U.S., and resources for parents of autistic children. Dr. Mitchell Elkind, Chief Clinical Science Officer for the American Heart Association, also joins the show. Dr. Elkind checks in for American Stroke Month to discuss the signs and symptoms of stroke, conditions that increase the risk of stroke, and preventative measures one can take to lower the risks.
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(00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks for joining us here on
iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman,and we have some very important conversations lined
up for you coming up for AmericanStroke Month, which is recognized here in
the month of May. I'm goingto talk to doctor Mitchell Elkins, chief
(00:23):
Clinical Science Officer for the American HeartAssociation. We'll explain everything you need to
know about strokes and how to preventthem. Right now. To get things
started, though, I want tobring in my first guest. I'm joined
by the Chief executive Officer of theDan Marino Foundation, Mary Parton. Last
month, the month of April wasNational Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month, and
(00:46):
that is the focus of the DanMarino Foundation. You can learn more at
Dan Marino Foundation dot org. Mary, thank you so much for taking a
few minutes to come on the show, and first of all, tell us
about the mission of this foundation andhow this all dot started. Our mission
is to empower people and with addtoism and other developmental disabilities. Now the
(01:06):
term being used rather than developmental disabilitiesare neurodiverse populations, and that includes people
with autism. I mean, itincludes mental health aspects, dyslexia, ada,
ADHD. So it's a pretty widespectrum. You know. We started
out with autism, and if youwould see that as central to everything that
(01:30):
we've done, it's a foundation.But after thirty one years in operation,
you know, your scope begins toexpand, and so now we are serving
a greater number. But the missionstill remains to empower people so that they
can live their best life possible,you know, and that's really where we
(01:52):
have seen needs. That's really thepathway of how the Foundations has grown.
It's started in nineteen ninety two Danand Claire Marino their second son, Michael.
They thought around the age of eighteenmonths, age two, that maybe
he was deaf. They really didn'tknow, you know, back then,
(02:16):
thirty some years ago, you reallydidn't hear about autism very much. He
had seen the movie rain Man,but that was about it. And so
when they went to the pediatrician andthey went to a neurologist, he was
diagnosed with autism. And Claire talksabout coming home and Danny was at practice.
(02:37):
He came home and they got inthe encyclopedia to look it up because
they didn't know what it was.And so their journey really started the foundation,
and that when they would go andthey had the means to find the
best of care and the best practicesthat were out there at the time,
but they would see so many familiesthey did not And so that was the
(03:00):
first huge initiative of the foundation wasin building the Dan Marinos Center, which
is out in Weston. It wasoriginally was Variety Hospital. It became then
Miami Children's Hospital, and today it'sthe Nicholas Children's Hospital, and that opened
in nineteen ninety eight. It's actuallycelebrating its twenty fifth year. And so
(03:22):
what this was was really a hugenew initiative. It was a one stop
shop. It was central that familiescould come and get diagnosis and then all
of the doctors were there. Sobecause there's some co morbidities, if they
had hard issues or whether it beophthalmology or behavior, you know, or
(03:44):
psychology, whatever the means were,all of the therapies could be found in
this one center and that still tothis day serves about twenty nine thousand young
people a year, and that's frombirth up until age twenty two, and
it's actually spawned that one center aboutanother eleven centers in the Florida area and
(04:08):
actually one internationally in Sardinia in Italy. So that was the very first initiative
of the foundation. And then whathappened was over the years, children who
had been diagnosed and received treatment atthe center, they began to be teenagers,
they began to be young adults,and the parents came to the foundation
(04:29):
saying, well, my son wouldlike to have a summer job, or
my son, now that he's transitionedout of high school, needs some sort
of post secondary or some kind oftraining. And that really then is how
the foundation expanded its programs. Wehad, like in two thousand and seven,
we started summer employment programs that werehigh school programs, and then in
(04:50):
two thousand and thirteen we actually openedup the first post secondary program called Marino
Campus, and two years we openedup a second school at FIU on the
main campus. And now at thispoint in time, I actually our new
program. We've had thousands of youngpeople come through the school who are now
(05:13):
adults, and so for September oftwenty three, we're actually expanding into like
a club membership and they can bepeople who have either graduated or been in
programs with foundation or not, justyoung people who are looking for extra supports
for employment, for socialization. Andso that's something that we'll be announcing,
(05:34):
you know, in the next coupleof months. So we continue to evolve,
and I think that's what you askme what's unique about what we do.
We're very individually centered with the youngpeople that we serve, the bay
babies that need diagnosis or treatments asthey're coming up or as adults. You
know, we're always some evolving withour population on what those needs are.
(06:00):
Were joined by Mary Parton, Chiefexecutive Officer of the Dan Marino Foundation.
You can learn more at Dan MarinoFoundation dot org. Tell us when you
became part of the foundation and someof the more notable developments that you've been
a part of as this foundation hasgrown, like you just described, Well,
(06:23):
so I've been here twenty five yearsand when I came to foundation,
the Dan Marino Center was just opening, and so much of the evolution.
I mean, we actually built asecond floor, and I think one of
the most notable things that I didand led at that time, we had
a three year old at the timeat the center, and he was doing
(06:45):
very well, but then he unfortunatelydrowned. And I really, I mean,
I had been aware that. Firstof all, drowning is a big
thing for four year olds and under, especially in South Florida. It was
the number one cause of death.But especially children with autism are very fascinated
by the water. It's calming,and so there were a lot of drownings
(07:08):
in our community. And so Iwent to Tallahassee to work on laws to
that every pool that served young peoplethat they would have to have a training
a disability, and so it becameknown as the Marino Aquatics Certification. And
so that meant every pool, everycity pool, every YMCA, every boys
(07:31):
and girls club that they would haveto take this course. And it made
them more cognizant on how to workwith children that had different abilities, you
know who maybe we're afraid of soundor you know that they would just reacted.
So it allowed them to train andthem to swim or these water safety
and at the same time, thenin going to Tallahassee, I was able
(07:55):
to get the dollars to build anaquatics center at the Dan Marino Center and
working with the City of Weston.They really helped us to be able to
accommodate that we could do that,and that was the only one in the
state, and that's in two thousandand three, so that was a pretty
big deal. And then really Iwould say the Marino Campuses. We had
(08:16):
worked with young adults for a longtime, and then you know, we
did the summer programs and we didsome kind of seasonal programs, and then
I thought, you know, thisis so necessary. I see such a
transformative change in young people that whydon't we do this year round? And
then that became the nemesis of startingthe Marino Campus a post secondary program.
(08:39):
And then other things. I'm achampion for technology. One of the biggest
We really focus on employment with ourolder individuals. And because so much of
who you are is what you do. You're you work in the radio.
Hi, you know, Hi,I'm Mary. You know I work at
the foundation. And I saw alot of our young people they didn't have
(09:01):
an entree into the community, andso that was the importance of employment.
Well, I saw at the time, for over two decades the number it
was thirteen percent employment for our population. And so I started to look at
well, what are the big challenges, what are the roadblocks here? And
one of them was interviewing. Andso at the time, we people,
(09:22):
you know, the best practice modelwas these mock interviews, you know,
having volunteers come in and you'd interview. But I thought, well, with
technology, using avatars, we couldset different scenarios, have different demeanors of
interviewers, and young people could practicepractice, practice, and with practice comes
perfect and so that was a hugein creating what we called VITA and getting
(09:48):
I went out to USC their Instituteof Creative Technology, because they were really
leading the time, and this istwo eleven twelve, and actually worked with
Colonel Schilling, who was the commanderof DARPA at the time, and the
military had developed these avatars, andI knew that if I pitched it,
(10:11):
I was going to ask we coulduse them, you know, but to
change them up for our population.And little did I know that Colonel Schilling
had children with autism, and thehead of pediatrics for the Defense had children
with autism, and so they werewonderful and that was really the birth of
the use of technology and we've continuedto grow that through the foundation on you
(10:35):
know, on communicating at a partyscenario, you know, individual skills,
how to take transportation, you know, so it's all grown from there.
So those are some of the moreI think notable things that I've I've been
very instrumental in. I'm Ryan Gormanhere on I hear radio communities joined by
Chief executive Officer for the Dan MarinoFoundation, Mary Pardon, helped prevalent is
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neurodiversity. And what are some ofthe signs of autism. Well, you
know, in autism, there's nota blood test or something like that.
It's really diagnosed by professionals making ajudgment on a child's behavior. And the
things you look for are communication wherethey don't communicate the same maybe they don't
(11:24):
they don't verbalize, or you've allalways heard well, gee they were talking
and now at age two, suddenlythey don't. They're not speaking anymore.
Socializing as another thing, um,the chill, you know, not making
eye contact, um, not beinglike sounds. You can get up behind
a child and make a very loudsound and they don't react. U Yet
(11:46):
they're very sensitive to the fluorescent lights. That sort of thing. Um,
they look for unusual or repetitive behaviors. But these are all all kind of
again you really if a parent isthinking that make you know, not sure
what's going on, you go toyour pediatrician, you go if they're within
(12:07):
school, you go to your school. Always you've given them the contact information
for the foundation you can call here. So the first thing is, like
anything, if you suspect something's notquite right or you know, developmentally,
then search out, you know,and have an evaluation because the earlier you
(12:28):
get treatment, and treatment basically isbehavioral aba it's called and it's really training
to make eye contact, training,speech, that sort of thing. But
the sooner you get these these therapies, the better results that you have.
So that's what i'd say. Thenumber of children diagnosed it was just changed
(12:50):
again CDC and what they do theybase this. They go like in eleven
states and they go to they healthand school records and they focus on eight
year olds and they look at thatnumber of how many children are diagnosed in
that category and right now it's onein every thirty six, which is alarming.
(13:15):
I mean when we started, whenthe foundation was formed there and again
the um the diagnosis and stuff wasn'tas prevalent, but it was like one
in ten thousand and then a fewyears back, you know, probably about
ten years it was one in athousand and like I said, now the
latest is one in thirty six,which just two years ago is one in
(13:35):
forty four. Um, there's there. You know, people ask me,
well, is there better diagnosis oryou knows or what's happening? Are they
just expanding what autism is? Andyou know it's it's it's real numbers.
Um, there there is. Youknow, they there is no cause defined
or cure defined for autism, butthere's somewhere in between. Um that is
(14:01):
genetic and or environmental, I meaneither that's the difficulty with autism is that
there's a lot of genes that contribute, but they've not found one specific.
And typically they'll look at there's achild with autism, may have gastro issues
and things like that. So there'scertain common like I said, comorbidities,
(14:24):
but there's still not that one cureor that reason that that cause. And
so and I'm not an expert,I'm not a doctor, I'm not a
fair so I always you know,I'm just I just run a foundation and
and and try to serve people.So you know, I don't. I
always say, go to the expertsand speak with them, but I think
(14:45):
that I'm generalizing and they're going totell you the same thing. But there
really are The other thing is theysay, well, in the US,
you know, is it diet isthat? But if you go to other
countries, that rate is about tosay, and what is um frustrating?
You know when you work with medicalcare and getting therapies and treatments. You
(15:05):
know, if I always said,if if one day we woke up and
one and every thirty six people maybewe're being born without an arm or something
like that, and it may notbe a great example, but there'd be
a lot of concern, you know, And so we really do have to
put more dollars, you know,from from government, from agencies. I
(15:28):
mean, we really do have towork together to try to understand autism more.
Um. You know, it's it'sum. I'll just let it go
at that, Yeah. Chief ExecutiveOfficer for the Dan Marino Foundation, Mary
Parton. You can learn more aboutall the different programs and services they provide
in the work that they do atDan Marino Foundation dot org. Again that's
(15:52):
Dan Marino Foundation dot org. Maryreally appreciate the tremendous work you and your
entire team are doing on this issue, and thank you so much for coming
on the show. Well, wereally appreciate the opportunity, Ryan, and
just it's anyone listening. We're hereto be your resource to help guide and
so please contact us. All right, thanks again, Mary, I'm Ryan
Gorman here on I Hear Radio Communitiesand now want to bring in our next
(16:17):
guest. We're joined by doctor MitchellElkins, chief Clinical Science Officer for the
American Heart Association. May is AmericanStroke Month and you can learn more at
stroke dot org slash Stroke Month.That stroke dot org slash Stroke Month.
Doctor Elkin, thanks so much fortaking a few minutes to come on the
show. And let me start witha very basic question, what exactly is
(16:38):
a stroke? Sure? Well,first of all, thanks a lot,
Ryan for having me and the AmericanHeart Association on the show. So a
stroke is essentially damaged to the brainthat's caused by a problem with a blood
vessel. So most of the time, about eighty percent of the time,
it's due to a blood clot blockinga blood vessel, leading to a lack
(16:59):
of blood float to that part ofthe brain that's affected, and that's what
causes the damage. About twenty percentof the time it's due to a breakage
or a rupture of the blood vesselleading to bleeding into the brain. So
that's called a hemorrhagic stroke, andthat can be pretty damaging as well.
Something that I think can confuse peoplefrom time to time. The difference between
(17:22):
a heart attack, a stroke,and cardiac arrest. Can you break that
down for us? Oh? Yeah, sure. So a heart attack is
when there's lack of blood flow toa part of the heart, and so
that part of the heart is damaged. Sometimes because of a heart attack or
because of an underlying rhythm problem withthe heart, there can be what's called
(17:47):
a cardiac arrest, which is whenthe heart stops beating completely and the person
becomes completely unresponsive. A stroke,on the other hand, is the problem
is in the brain, not inthe heart, So that's when the lack
of blood flow or bleeding into thebrain causes the problem. So it's affecting
a different organ from either a heartattack or a sudden cardiac of rest.
(18:10):
And to focus in on strokes againfor a moment. How many Americans deal
with this each year? It's abig problem. So there are about eight
hundred thousand strokes a year in theUnited States. Stroke is the fifth leading
cause of death in the US,and because strokes often don't kill people but
leave them with disability, it's actuallythe leading cause of serious long term disability
(18:33):
in the US, and interestingly,in other parts of the world, strokes
actually outrank heart disease as a causeof death. So worldwide it's the number
two cause of death, even thoughhere in the US it's number five because
we have other significant causes ahead ofit. Here are certain demographics more at
risk for suffering from a stroke.Absolutely. So first of all, stroke
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risk does increase with age, soit actually goes up pretty quickly as people
get over the age of fifty five. In fact, it doubles for every
decade of age after the age offifty five, so it goes up rapidly
there. But it's important to rememberthat stroke isn't only a condition of older
(19:17):
people. In fact, we've seenstroke rates going up in this country among
younger people, people in their twentiesand thirties in midlife, and that's obviously
a cause of great concern. Butstroke can affect somebody at any age,
and in fact, even children canhave strokes, and those can be both
(19:38):
chemic and hemorrhagic strokes, So wedon't ever want to forget that possibility.
And as physician, certainly we needto remember that if someone has symptoms of
a stroke, that we shouldn't disregardthose symptoms. They could in factory manifestations
of a stroke. The other majorthing to remember is that African Americans Black
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Americans have about twice the risk ofstroke as the white population, and this
of course is a great cause ofconcern and something that many people are trying
to change, and we think alot of that is due to increased rates
of high blood pressure in the blackpopulation. Other populations in the US also
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seem to yet increased risk of stroke, including Hispanic or Latino Americans. Is
there a difference between men and women. Well, the absolute numbers of stroke
are higher among women than men becausewomen tend to live longer than men and
so they live into the older ageranges when strokes are more likely to occur,
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So there are greater numbers of strokein women overall, but at middle
age, men tend to have aslightly higher risk of stroke. At younger
ages. Women may actually have aslightly increased risk because of hormonal factors.
Pregnancy, for example, does increasethe risk of strokes lightly, and so
(21:08):
do hormonal therapies for example. Soit sort of depends on the age at
which one is looking. Overall,there are more strokes in women because they
tend to live longer. I'm RyanGorman, joined by doctor Mitchell Elkins,
chief Clinical Science Officer for the AmericanHeart Association. May is American Stroke Month
and you can learn more at strokedot org slash stroke Month. What are
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some of the stroke risk factors thatlisteners need to be aware of to prevent
a stroke. Well, there's severalrisk factors for stroke. The most important
one, perhaps even number one,two and three, would be high blood
pressure, and that's because high bloodpressure, first of all, it is
very common in the United States andworldwide, and it has a very strong
(21:56):
association with strokes. So it's beenestimated that high blood pressure accounts for about
fifty percent of strokes and perhaps asmany as eighty percent of the hemorrhagic or
bleeding kind of stroke. So that'sthe most important risk factor. Other important
risk factors, though, are diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, smoking,
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and even heart disease. A lotof the risk factors that I've just mentioned
are in fact risk factors for heartdisease as well. So the things that
lead to heart disease tend to alsolead to stroke as well. And we
have a kind of easy way forpeople to remember what the risk factors are
for both heart disease and stroke atthe Heart Association, And that's the Life's
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Essential eight concept, which includes bloodpressure, high glucose or sugar levels,
cholesterol, smoking, a lack ofphysical activity, an unhealthy diet, heavy
weight or obesity, and a lackof sleep. So all of those contribute
(23:08):
to the risk of stroke and heartdisease. Now, what about some of
the signs and symptoms of someone whois potentially suffering from a stroke or so
strokes, but because they're damaged tothe brain, they can cause symptoms that
represent any of the different functions ofthe brain. But the way that we
think it's easiest for people to rememberthis is through a simple acronym called fast
(23:32):
fa ST, and that reminds usthat if you see someone whose face is
drooping, that's f If they haveany arm weakness, they can't hold up
one of their arms, that's aAnd if they have speech difficulty that's either
trouble speaking or understanding speech, thenit's t time to call nine one one
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and get emergency help right away.So that's the fast, easy way to
the symptoms of a stroke. Whatabout treatment options for someone who has suffered
from a stroke and how much havewe advanced in recent years in terms of
being able to treat stroke victims?Really terrific questions, Ryan, So,
(24:15):
first of all, yes, thereare treatments available for stroke, and we've
seen absolutely tremendous, tremendous advances inthe last couple of decades in stroke care.
The key thing is that t thatI mentioned, it's time to call
nine one one. We say timeis brain Treatment has to be started as
quickly after the stroke symptoms begin tobe effective, and the longer one waits,
(24:41):
the less likely it is to beof benefit. So we can use
clot busting drugs for those ischemic strokeswhere the problem is a blockage in a
blood vessel, but those have tobe given in an emergency room after bleeding
stroke has been excluded, using generallya CAT scan or CT scan to bleeding
in the brain, and so thoseclot busting medicines like TPA or tissue plasminaging
(25:07):
activator for example, have to begiven within no more than four and a
half hours after the stroke has begungenerally, so super important to get to
the hospital right away, and thenfor people with larger strokes sometimes even out
as long as twenty four hours afterthe stroke has begun. We can use
an interventional procedure where a interventional neuroradiologist or a novascular neurosurgeon can thread a
(25:37):
catheter into the blood vessels up tothe brain and remove the clot directly mechanically
from the brain. We call thata mechanical brombectomy. The results can be
absolutely dramatic. People who come inparalyzed on one side of the body and
unable to speak can have a completereversal and walk out of the hospital in
(26:00):
a day or two. But it'simportant to get to the hospital to get
that treatment done, of course,and only those with certain types of strokes
may be eligible for it. I'mRyan Gorman, joined by doctor Mitchell Elkin's
chief Clinical Science Officer for the AmericanHeart Association. May is American Stroke Month
and You can learn more at strokedot org slash stroke Month. I know
(26:22):
you mentioned earlier some conditions that couldincrease risk factors for stroke include high blood
pressure, obesity. Are there othermedical conditions that can also increase the risk
And if someone already had a stroke, what is the likelihood that they could
get one again? Sure? Well? First of all, yeah, that
(26:42):
other things that are important to rememberare I think I mentioned this briefly before.
Heart diseases, but in particular,one that's very common is called atrial
fibrillation. This is an irregular rhythmof a heart that can lead to blood
clots forming in the heart that canthen travel to the brain and cause a
(27:02):
stroke. And that condition atrial fibrillationis very common, particularly as people age,
and they can check their own pulseto see if they have it.
If you feel an irregular rhythm toyour pulse, it's worth talking to your
doctor about it because it can havea big impact by putting someone on a
blood dinner to prevent stroke. Sothat's one important thing to remember. And
(27:26):
it's absolutely true that one somebody hasa stroke, there increased risk of having
another one, probably because the riskfactors that led to the first one are
still present and increase the risk ofhaving a second one. There's a lot
we can do, though, toreduce the risk of another stroke, including
(27:47):
treating things like high blood pressure,diabetes, high cholesterol, and also using
medicines like aspirin or stronger blood thinnersif somebody has a condition like atrial fibrillation.
So those are the kinds of thingswe have to do. But we
first of all have to know whysomebody has a stroke. So I always
(28:07):
think of it in terms of boththe cause of the stroke as well as
treating the risk factors. So bycause, I mean does someone have an
underlying heart condition like atrial fibrillation.Do they have a blockage in the blood
vessel in the neck the carotid arterythat could be treated with surgery, for
example. We want to address thoseproblems when we discover them on the patient's
(28:30):
evaluation. Then we also want toaddress the risk factors that are present,
like the high blood pressure, theunhealthy diet or obesity, high cholesterol,
smoking, smoking, cessation is essential, and so forth. So it's a
combination of treating the cause that wethink was the direct reason someone had a
stroke as well as taking care ofthose risk factors that increase the risk of
(28:55):
stroke, heart disease and other problems. And finally, with this being American
Stroke Month, where can people findout more information about all of this?
Absolutely so the best place to lookis at the American Heart Association website and
specifically for information about stroke, goto stroke dot org slash stroke month,
(29:15):
but stroke dot org simple to remember. Check it out all right for American
Stroke Month. Doctor Mitchell Elkins,chief Clinical Science officer from the American Heart
Association. Doctor Elkin, thank youso much for taking the time to step
us through all of that. Wereally appreciate it. My pleasure. Thanks
for having me and for having theAmerican Heart Association. All right, that's
(29:37):
good to do it. For thisedition of iHeartRadio Communities, I'm your host,
Ryan Gorman. Thank you all somuch for listening. We'll talk to
you again real soon.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks for joining us here on
iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman,and we have some very important conversations lined
up for you coming up for AmericanStroke Month, which is recognized here in
the month of May. I'm goingto talk to doctor Mitchell Elkins, chief
(00:23):
Clinical Science Officer for the American HeartAssociation. We'll explain everything you need to
know about strokes and how to preventthem. Right now. To get things
started, though, I want tobring in my first guest. I'm joined
by the Chief executive Officer of theDan Marino Foundation, Mary Parton. Last
month, the month of April wasNational Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month, and
(00:46):
that is the focus of the DanMarino Foundation. You can learn more at
Dan Marino Foundation dot org. Mary, thank you so much for taking a
few minutes to come on the show, and first of all, tell us
about the mission of this foundation andhow this all dot started. Our mission
is to empower people and with addtoism and other developmental disabilities. Now the
(01:06):
term being used rather than developmental disabilitiesare neurodiverse populations, and that includes people
with autism. I mean, itincludes mental health aspects, dyslexia, ada,
ADHD. So it's a pretty widespectrum. You know. We started
out with autism, and if youwould see that as central to everything that
(01:30):
we've done, it's a foundation.But after thirty one years in operation,
you know, your scope begins toexpand, and so now we are serving
a greater number. But the missionstill remains to empower people so that they
can live their best life possible,you know, and that's really where we
(01:52):
have seen needs. That's really thepathway of how the Foundations has grown.
It's started in nineteen ninety two Danand Claire Marino their second son, Michael.
They thought around the age of eighteenmonths, age two, that maybe
he was deaf. They really didn'tknow, you know, back then,
(02:16):
thirty some years ago, you reallydidn't hear about autism very much. He
had seen the movie rain Man,but that was about it. And so
when they went to the pediatrician andthey went to a neurologist, he was
diagnosed with autism. And Claire talksabout coming home and Danny was at practice.
(02:37):
He came home and they got inthe encyclopedia to look it up because
they didn't know what it was.And so their journey really started the foundation,
and that when they would go andthey had the means to find the
best of care and the best practicesthat were out there at the time,
but they would see so many familiesthey did not And so that was the
(03:00):
first huge initiative of the foundation wasin building the Dan Marinos Center, which
is out in Weston. It wasoriginally was Variety Hospital. It became then
Miami Children's Hospital, and today it'sthe Nicholas Children's Hospital, and that opened
in nineteen ninety eight. It's actuallycelebrating its twenty fifth year. And so
(03:22):
what this was was really a hugenew initiative. It was a one stop
shop. It was central that familiescould come and get diagnosis and then all
of the doctors were there. Sobecause there's some co morbidities, if they
had hard issues or whether it beophthalmology or behavior, you know, or
(03:44):
psychology, whatever the means were,all of the therapies could be found in
this one center and that still tothis day serves about twenty nine thousand young
people a year, and that's frombirth up until age twenty two, and
it's actually spawned that one center aboutanother eleven centers in the Florida area and
(04:08):
actually one internationally in Sardinia in Italy. So that was the very first initiative
of the foundation. And then whathappened was over the years, children who
had been diagnosed and received treatment atthe center, they began to be teenagers,
they began to be young adults,and the parents came to the foundation
(04:29):
saying, well, my son wouldlike to have a summer job, or
my son, now that he's transitionedout of high school, needs some sort
of post secondary or some kind oftraining. And that really then is how
the foundation expanded its programs. Wehad, like in two thousand and seven,
we started summer employment programs that werehigh school programs, and then in
(04:50):
two thousand and thirteen we actually openedup the first post secondary program called Marino
Campus, and two years we openedup a second school at FIU on the
main campus. And now at thispoint in time, I actually our new
program. We've had thousands of youngpeople come through the school who are now
(05:13):
adults, and so for September oftwenty three, we're actually expanding into like
a club membership and they can bepeople who have either graduated or been in
programs with foundation or not, justyoung people who are looking for extra supports
for employment, for socialization. Andso that's something that we'll be announcing,
(05:34):
you know, in the next coupleof months. So we continue to evolve,
and I think that's what you askme what's unique about what we do.
We're very individually centered with the youngpeople that we serve, the bay
babies that need diagnosis or treatments asthey're coming up or as adults. You
know, we're always some evolving withour population on what those needs are.
(06:00):
Were joined by Mary Parton, Chiefexecutive Officer of the Dan Marino Foundation.
You can learn more at Dan MarinoFoundation dot org. Tell us when you
became part of the foundation and someof the more notable developments that you've been
a part of as this foundation hasgrown, like you just described, Well,
(06:23):
so I've been here twenty five yearsand when I came to foundation,
the Dan Marino Center was just opening, and so much of the evolution.
I mean, we actually built asecond floor, and I think one of
the most notable things that I didand led at that time, we had
a three year old at the timeat the center, and he was doing
(06:45):
very well, but then he unfortunatelydrowned. And I really, I mean,
I had been aware that. Firstof all, drowning is a big
thing for four year olds and under, especially in South Florida. It was
the number one cause of death.But especially children with autism are very fascinated
by the water. It's calming,and so there were a lot of drownings
(07:08):
in our community. And so Iwent to Tallahassee to work on laws to
that every pool that served young peoplethat they would have to have a training
a disability, and so it becameknown as the Marino Aquatics Certification. And
so that meant every pool, everycity pool, every YMCA, every boys
(07:31):
and girls club that they would haveto take this course. And it made
them more cognizant on how to workwith children that had different abilities, you
know who maybe we're afraid of soundor you know that they would just reacted.
So it allowed them to train andthem to swim or these water safety
and at the same time, thenin going to Tallahassee, I was able
(07:55):
to get the dollars to build anaquatics center at the Dan Marino Center and
working with the City of Weston.They really helped us to be able to
accommodate that we could do that,and that was the only one in the
state, and that's in two thousandand three, so that was a pretty
big deal. And then really Iwould say the Marino Campuses. We had
(08:16):
worked with young adults for a longtime, and then you know, we
did the summer programs and we didsome kind of seasonal programs, and then
I thought, you know, thisis so necessary. I see such a
transformative change in young people that whydon't we do this year round? And
then that became the nemesis of startingthe Marino Campus a post secondary program.
(08:39):
And then other things. I'm achampion for technology. One of the biggest
We really focus on employment with ourolder individuals. And because so much of
who you are is what you do. You're you work in the radio.
Hi, you know, Hi,I'm Mary. You know I work at
the foundation. And I saw alot of our young people they didn't have
(09:01):
an entree into the community, andso that was the importance of employment.
Well, I saw at the time, for over two decades the number it
was thirteen percent employment for our population. And so I started to look at
well, what are the big challenges, what are the roadblocks here? And
one of them was interviewing. Andso at the time, we people,
(09:22):
you know, the best practice modelwas these mock interviews, you know,
having volunteers come in and you'd interview. But I thought, well, with
technology, using avatars, we couldset different scenarios, have different demeanors of
interviewers, and young people could practicepractice, practice, and with practice comes
perfect and so that was a hugein creating what we called VITA and getting
(09:48):
I went out to USC their Instituteof Creative Technology, because they were really
leading the time, and this istwo eleven twelve, and actually worked with
Colonel Schilling, who was the commanderof DARPA at the time, and the
military had developed these avatars, andI knew that if I pitched it,
(10:11):
I was going to ask we coulduse them, you know, but to
change them up for our population.And little did I know that Colonel Schilling
had children with autism, and thehead of pediatrics for the Defense had children
with autism, and so they werewonderful and that was really the birth of
the use of technology and we've continuedto grow that through the foundation on you
(10:35):
know, on communicating at a partyscenario, you know, individual skills,
how to take transportation, you know, so it's all grown from there.
So those are some of the moreI think notable things that I've I've been
very instrumental in. I'm Ryan Gormanhere on I hear radio communities joined by
Chief executive Officer for the Dan MarinoFoundation, Mary Pardon, helped prevalent is
(11:01):
neurodiversity. And what are some ofthe signs of autism. Well, you
know, in autism, there's nota blood test or something like that.
It's really diagnosed by professionals making ajudgment on a child's behavior. And the
things you look for are communication wherethey don't communicate the same maybe they don't
(11:24):
they don't verbalize, or you've allalways heard well, gee they were talking
and now at age two, suddenlythey don't. They're not speaking anymore.
Socializing as another thing, um,the chill, you know, not making
eye contact, um, not beinglike sounds. You can get up behind
a child and make a very loudsound and they don't react. U Yet
(11:46):
they're very sensitive to the fluorescent lights. That sort of thing. Um,
they look for unusual or repetitive behaviors. But these are all all kind of
again you really if a parent isthinking that make you know, not sure
what's going on, you go toyour pediatrician, you go if they're within
(12:07):
school, you go to your school. Always you've given them the contact information
for the foundation you can call here. So the first thing is, like
anything, if you suspect something's notquite right or you know, developmentally,
then search out, you know,and have an evaluation because the earlier you
(12:28):
get treatment, and treatment basically isbehavioral aba it's called and it's really training
to make eye contact, training,speech, that sort of thing. But
the sooner you get these these therapies, the better results that you have.
So that's what i'd say. Thenumber of children diagnosed it was just changed
(12:50):
again CDC and what they do theybase this. They go like in eleven
states and they go to they healthand school records and they focus on eight
year olds and they look at thatnumber of how many children are diagnosed in
that category and right now it's onein every thirty six, which is alarming.
(13:15):
I mean when we started, whenthe foundation was formed there and again
the um the diagnosis and stuff wasn'tas prevalent, but it was like one
in ten thousand and then a fewyears back, you know, probably about
ten years it was one in athousand and like I said, now the
latest is one in thirty six,which just two years ago is one in
(13:35):
forty four. Um, there's there. You know, people ask me,
well, is there better diagnosis oryou knows or what's happening? Are they
just expanding what autism is? Andyou know it's it's it's real numbers.
Um, there there is. Youknow, they there is no cause defined
or cure defined for autism, butthere's somewhere in between. Um that is
(14:01):
genetic and or environmental, I meaneither that's the difficulty with autism is that
there's a lot of genes that contribute, but they've not found one specific.
And typically they'll look at there's achild with autism, may have gastro issues
and things like that. So there'scertain common like I said, comorbidities,
(14:24):
but there's still not that one cureor that reason that that cause. And
so and I'm not an expert,I'm not a doctor, I'm not a
fair so I always you know,I'm just I just run a foundation and
and and try to serve people.So you know, I don't. I
always say, go to the expertsand speak with them, but I think
(14:45):
that I'm generalizing and they're going totell you the same thing. But there
really are The other thing is theysay, well, in the US,
you know, is it diet isthat? But if you go to other
countries, that rate is about tosay, and what is um frustrating?
You know when you work with medicalcare and getting therapies and treatments. You
(15:05):
know, if I always said,if if one day we woke up and
one and every thirty six people maybewe're being born without an arm or something
like that, and it may notbe a great example, but there'd be
a lot of concern, you know, And so we really do have to
put more dollars, you know,from from government, from agencies. I
(15:28):
mean, we really do have towork together to try to understand autism more.
Um. You know, it's it'sum. I'll just let it go
at that, Yeah. Chief ExecutiveOfficer for the Dan Marino Foundation, Mary
Parton. You can learn more aboutall the different programs and services they provide
in the work that they do atDan Marino Foundation dot org. Again that's
(15:52):
Dan Marino Foundation dot org. Maryreally appreciate the tremendous work you and your
entire team are doing on this issue, and thank you so much for coming
on the show. Well, wereally appreciate the opportunity, Ryan, and
just it's anyone listening. We're hereto be your resource to help guide and
so please contact us. All right, thanks again, Mary, I'm Ryan
Gorman here on I Hear Radio Communitiesand now want to bring in our next
(16:17):
guest. We're joined by doctor MitchellElkins, chief Clinical Science Officer for the
American Heart Association. May is AmericanStroke Month and you can learn more at
stroke dot org slash Stroke Month.That stroke dot org slash Stroke Month.
Doctor Elkin, thanks so much fortaking a few minutes to come on the
show. And let me start witha very basic question, what exactly is
(16:38):
a stroke? Sure? Well,first of all, thanks a lot,
Ryan for having me and the AmericanHeart Association on the show. So a
stroke is essentially damaged to the brainthat's caused by a problem with a blood
vessel. So most of the time, about eighty percent of the time,
it's due to a blood clot blockinga blood vessel, leading to a lack
(16:59):
of blood float to that part ofthe brain that's affected, and that's what
causes the damage. About twenty percentof the time it's due to a breakage
or a rupture of the blood vesselleading to bleeding into the brain. So
that's called a hemorrhagic stroke, andthat can be pretty damaging as well.
Something that I think can confuse peoplefrom time to time. The difference between
(17:22):
a heart attack, a stroke,and cardiac arrest. Can you break that
down for us? Oh? Yeah, sure. So a heart attack is
when there's lack of blood flow toa part of the heart, and so
that part of the heart is damaged. Sometimes because of a heart attack or
because of an underlying rhythm problem withthe heart, there can be what's called
(17:47):
a cardiac arrest, which is whenthe heart stops beating completely and the person
becomes completely unresponsive. A stroke,on the other hand, is the problem
is in the brain, not inthe heart, So that's when the lack
of blood flow or bleeding into thebrain causes the problem. So it's affecting
a different organ from either a heartattack or a sudden cardiac of rest.
(18:10):
And to focus in on strokes againfor a moment. How many Americans deal
with this each year? It's abig problem. So there are about eight
hundred thousand strokes a year in theUnited States. Stroke is the fifth leading
cause of death in the US,and because strokes often don't kill people but
leave them with disability, it's actuallythe leading cause of serious long term disability
(18:33):
in the US, and interestingly,in other parts of the world, strokes
actually outrank heart disease as a causeof death. So worldwide it's the number
two cause of death, even thoughhere in the US it's number five because
we have other significant causes ahead ofit. Here are certain demographics more at
risk for suffering from a stroke.Absolutely. So first of all, stroke
(18:57):
risk does increase with age, soit actually goes up pretty quickly as people
get over the age of fifty five. In fact, it doubles for every
decade of age after the age offifty five, so it goes up rapidly
there. But it's important to rememberthat stroke isn't only a condition of older
(19:17):
people. In fact, we've seenstroke rates going up in this country among
younger people, people in their twentiesand thirties in midlife, and that's obviously
a cause of great concern. Butstroke can affect somebody at any age,
and in fact, even children canhave strokes, and those can be both
(19:38):
chemic and hemorrhagic strokes, So wedon't ever want to forget that possibility.
And as physician, certainly we needto remember that if someone has symptoms of
a stroke, that we shouldn't disregardthose symptoms. They could in factory manifestations
of a stroke. The other majorthing to remember is that African Americans Black
(19:59):
Americans have about twice the risk ofstroke as the white population, and this
of course is a great cause ofconcern and something that many people are trying
to change, and we think alot of that is due to increased rates
of high blood pressure in the blackpopulation. Other populations in the US also
(20:22):
seem to yet increased risk of stroke, including Hispanic or Latino Americans. Is
there a difference between men and women. Well, the absolute numbers of stroke
are higher among women than men becausewomen tend to live longer than men and
so they live into the older ageranges when strokes are more likely to occur,
(20:42):
So there are greater numbers of strokein women overall, but at middle
age, men tend to have aslightly higher risk of stroke. At younger
ages. Women may actually have aslightly increased risk because of hormonal factors.
Pregnancy, for example, does increasethe risk of strokes lightly, and so
(21:08):
do hormonal therapies for example. Soit sort of depends on the age at
which one is looking. Overall,there are more strokes in women because they
tend to live longer. I'm RyanGorman, joined by doctor Mitchell Elkins,
chief Clinical Science Officer for the AmericanHeart Association. May is American Stroke Month
and you can learn more at strokedot org slash stroke Month. What are
(21:33):
some of the stroke risk factors thatlisteners need to be aware of to prevent
a stroke. Well, there's severalrisk factors for stroke. The most important
one, perhaps even number one,two and three, would be high blood
pressure, and that's because high bloodpressure, first of all, it is
very common in the United States andworldwide, and it has a very strong
(21:56):
association with strokes. So it's beenestimated that high blood pressure accounts for about
fifty percent of strokes and perhaps asmany as eighty percent of the hemorrhagic or
bleeding kind of stroke. So that'sthe most important risk factor. Other important
risk factors, though, are diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, smoking,
(22:21):
and even heart disease. A lotof the risk factors that I've just mentioned
are in fact risk factors for heartdisease as well. So the things that
lead to heart disease tend to alsolead to stroke as well. And we
have a kind of easy way forpeople to remember what the risk factors are
for both heart disease and stroke atthe Heart Association, And that's the Life's
(22:45):
Essential eight concept, which includes bloodpressure, high glucose or sugar levels,
cholesterol, smoking, a lack ofphysical activity, an unhealthy diet, heavy
weight or obesity, and a lackof sleep. So all of those contribute
(23:08):
to the risk of stroke and heartdisease. Now, what about some of
the signs and symptoms of someone whois potentially suffering from a stroke or so
strokes, but because they're damaged tothe brain, they can cause symptoms that
represent any of the different functions ofthe brain. But the way that we
think it's easiest for people to rememberthis is through a simple acronym called fast
(23:32):
fa ST, and that reminds usthat if you see someone whose face is
drooping, that's f If they haveany arm weakness, they can't hold up
one of their arms, that's aAnd if they have speech difficulty that's either
trouble speaking or understanding speech, thenit's t time to call nine one one
(23:55):
and get emergency help right away.So that's the fast, easy way to
the symptoms of a stroke. Whatabout treatment options for someone who has suffered
from a stroke and how much havewe advanced in recent years in terms of
being able to treat stroke victims?Really terrific questions, Ryan, So,
(24:15):
first of all, yes, thereare treatments available for stroke, and we've
seen absolutely tremendous, tremendous advances inthe last couple of decades in stroke care.
The key thing is that t thatI mentioned, it's time to call
nine one one. We say timeis brain Treatment has to be started as
quickly after the stroke symptoms begin tobe effective, and the longer one waits,
(24:41):
the less likely it is to beof benefit. So we can use
clot busting drugs for those ischemic strokeswhere the problem is a blockage in a
blood vessel, but those have tobe given in an emergency room after bleeding
stroke has been excluded, using generallya CAT scan or CT scan to bleeding
in the brain, and so thoseclot busting medicines like TPA or tissue plasminaging
(25:07):
activator for example, have to begiven within no more than four and a
half hours after the stroke has begungenerally, so super important to get to
the hospital right away, and thenfor people with larger strokes sometimes even out
as long as twenty four hours afterthe stroke has begun. We can use
an interventional procedure where a interventional neuroradiologist or a novascular neurosurgeon can thread a
(25:37):
catheter into the blood vessels up tothe brain and remove the clot directly mechanically
from the brain. We call thata mechanical brombectomy. The results can be
absolutely dramatic. People who come inparalyzed on one side of the body and
unable to speak can have a completereversal and walk out of the hospital in
(26:00):
a day or two. But it'simportant to get to the hospital to get
that treatment done, of course,and only those with certain types of strokes
may be eligible for it. I'mRyan Gorman, joined by doctor Mitchell Elkin's
chief Clinical Science Officer for the AmericanHeart Association. May is American Stroke Month
and You can learn more at strokedot org slash stroke Month. I know
(26:22):
you mentioned earlier some conditions that couldincrease risk factors for stroke include high blood
pressure, obesity. Are there othermedical conditions that can also increase the risk
And if someone already had a stroke, what is the likelihood that they could
get one again? Sure? Well? First of all, yeah, that
(26:42):
other things that are important to rememberare I think I mentioned this briefly before.
Heart diseases, but in particular,one that's very common is called atrial
fibrillation. This is an irregular rhythmof a heart that can lead to blood
clots forming in the heart that canthen travel to the brain and cause a
(27:02):
stroke. And that condition atrial fibrillationis very common, particularly as people age,
and they can check their own pulseto see if they have it.
If you feel an irregular rhythm toyour pulse, it's worth talking to your
doctor about it because it can havea big impact by putting someone on a
blood dinner to prevent stroke. Sothat's one important thing to remember. And
(27:26):
it's absolutely true that one somebody hasa stroke, there increased risk of having
another one, probably because the riskfactors that led to the first one are
still present and increase the risk ofhaving a second one. There's a lot
we can do, though, toreduce the risk of another stroke, including
(27:47):
treating things like high blood pressure,diabetes, high cholesterol, and also using
medicines like aspirin or stronger blood thinnersif somebody has a condition like atrial fibrillation.
So those are the kinds of thingswe have to do. But we
first of all have to know whysomebody has a stroke. So I always
(28:07):
think of it in terms of boththe cause of the stroke as well as
treating the risk factors. So bycause, I mean does someone have an
underlying heart condition like atrial fibrillation.Do they have a blockage in the blood
vessel in the neck the carotid arterythat could be treated with surgery, for
example. We want to address thoseproblems when we discover them on the patient's
(28:30):
evaluation. Then we also want toaddress the risk factors that are present,
like the high blood pressure, theunhealthy diet or obesity, high cholesterol,
smoking, smoking, cessation is essential, and so forth. So it's a
combination of treating the cause that wethink was the direct reason someone had a
stroke as well as taking care ofthose risk factors that increase the risk of
(28:55):
stroke, heart disease and other problems. And finally, with this being American
Stroke Month, where can people findout more information about all of this?
Absolutely so the best place to lookis at the American Heart Association website and
specifically for information about stroke, goto stroke dot org slash stroke month,
(29:15):
but stroke dot org simple to remember. Check it out all right for American
Stroke Month. Doctor Mitchell Elkins,chief Clinical Science officer from the American Heart
Association. Doctor Elkin, thank youso much for taking the time to step
us through all of that. Wereally appreciate it. My pleasure. Thanks
for having me and for having theAmerican Heart Association. All right, that's
(29:37):
good to do it. For thisedition of iHeartRadio Communities, I'm your host,
Ryan Gorman. Thank you all somuch for listening. We'll talk to
you again real soon.
Host
Manny Munoz
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