Physician-led stroke education
Stroke care, translated from code stroke to recovery.
What is a stroke, how is it treated in the first hours, and what does recovery look like? The Vascular Brain answers those questions with evidence-based stroke education for clinicians, trainees, patients, and families — written by Zaka Ahmed, MD, a vascular neurologist.
Fellowship-trained vascular neurologist · peer-reviewed author — publications on Google Scholar
Acute Stroke · Neuroimaging · Systems of Care
Stroke symptoms? Call 911.
Balance · Eyes · Face · Arm · Speech · Time. Any sudden change — do not wait. Note the time symptoms started.
§ 01 · Choose your path
Built for the people who treat stroke — and the families living through it.
Protocols, trials, imaging, workflow.
TNK and tPA decisions, thrombectomy criteria, ASPECTS and CT perfusion pearls, and the bedside checklists that keep a stroke service moving.
For Residents & FellowsNotes that write themselves.
Smart note builders for the stroke unit, neuro-ICU, on-call consult, neuro exam and procedures: answer bedside questions, copy an evidence-tagged impression and plan — plus the landmark trials behind every line.
For Patients & FamiliesPlain-language stroke guides.
Symptoms, hospital care, the first 24 hours, rehab and recovery, and how to prevent another stroke — written in language families can use.
§ 02 · Clinical Tools
Bedside-ready references.
NIHSS Pocket Guide
Full scale, scoring conventions, common pitfalls.
ProtocolTNK / tPA Eligibility
Inclusion, exclusion, and the soft-call cases.
ImagingASPECTS Visual Guide
Annotated slices and scoring walkthrough.
Decision treeThrombectomy Eligibility
Early, late-window, and large-core selection.
ChecklistStroke Workup Checklist
Etiology workup organized by TOAST mechanism.
ChecklistDischarge Prevention
Antithrombotic, BP, statin, and follow-up plan.
Risk scoreCHA2DS2-VASc Calculator
AFib stroke risk, scored across all eight factors.
Risk scoreHAS-BLED Calculator
Bleeding risk on anticoagulation, factor by factor.
Risk scoreABCD² Score for TIA
Two-day stroke risk after TIA, with interpretation.
§ 03 · Trial Library
Landmark stroke trials.
§ 04 · Latest articles & reviews
Long-form writing from the bedside and the literature.
White Spots on My Brain MRI.
Your MRI report says white matter disease or small vessel disease. What those white spots mean, when they matter, and what may help protect your brain.
DementiaWhat Is Dementia?.
Dementia is not one disease but a group of conditions that affect memory, thinking, and daily life. Learn causes, how doctors work it out, and what may help.
DementiaCan a Stroke Cause Dementia?.
Stroke can injure the brain networks that memory and thinking run on. How vascular dementia develops after stroke, what it looks like, and what may slow it.
DementiaTypes of Dementia.
Alzheimer's, vascular, Lewy body, and frontotemporal dementia differ in symptoms and course. Learn how doctors tell them apart — and why type changes the plan.
DementiaSundowning: Why Worse in the Evening.
Many people with dementia get more confused, restless, or upset as evening comes. Why sundowning happens, and an evening routine script that may help.
Dementia§ 05 · From the literature
Newly published in Stroke.
Titles and abstract excerpts are pulled automatically from the journal’s public feed and link to the publisher. They are not selected, reviewed, or endorsed by Dr. Ahmed.
§ 06 · For patients & families
Recovery and prevention.
§ 07 · Related reading
Start here, then go deeper.
- dizziness and vertigo warning signs that may signal stroke
- why fatigue persists after stroke and what helps
- cervical artery dissection: a stroke cause in younger adults
- TIA risk after transient symptoms: the ABCD2 score explained
- calculate ABCD2 stroke risk after a TIA
- about Dr. Zaka Ahmed, vascular neurologist
- posterior circulation stroke symptoms