Barbadians are suffering strokes – some fatal – at a rate of 49 a month, which is an increase from about three years ago.
Consultant cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Anthony Harris, disclosed these staggering figures Thursday night at the hospital’s second public accountability meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
He told the small audience that while the monthly figures of 11 heart-related cases were also alarming, strokes were more prevalent but were often treated by Barbadians as “a neglected stepchild of cardiovascular diseases”.
“In truth, it is perhaps even more prevalent in our population than heart attacks. We have 11 heart attacks occurring while we had something like 49 strokes a month, and the effect of a stroke is it can kill you or leave you severely disabled. Of course, some will recover but a lot of people, even when they get a stroke and do not die, wish they had died because of the debilitating effects,” Harris stated.
He added that strokes were more prevalent among the elderly population, with half of the victims being diabetics. (RJ)
