Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 17: Doct-ors Association Kashmir (DAK) today alleged that the use of a clot-busting drug which saves lives of stroke patients is not provided to the patients in the hospitals of the Valley.
DAK President, Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement said that without this treatment, stroke patients end up permanently disabled. “Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA) is the approved clot-busting intravenous medication that works by dissolving blood clots which cause most strokes. Timely treatment of this clot-buster reduces disability and improves functionality by restoring blood flow to the brain,” he said.
Quoting a study, Dr Nisar said patients who did not receive TPA following a stroke were 49 percent more likely to die than those who did receive the treatment.
He said the peripheral hospitals don’t have stroke management system in place and patients end up in tertiary care hospitals and majority of stroke victims don’t reach these hospitals within the crucial time frame due to delayed transportation. “Patients who arrive at hospitals in time and are perfect candidates for the clot-buster but are not offered this life-saving measure and the result is paralysis, impaired cognition, speech or vision, emotional and behavioral dysfunction and many other permanent neurological injuries,” he said.
DAK President said that stroke is the leading cause of death and serious long-term disability in the valley. “Risk of stroke increases for people with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and for those who Smoke. According to WHO, one in six people will have a stroke in life-time. That is more than 1.5 million Kashmiris which is a huge number of people,” he said.
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