JERUSALEM (VINnews) — “There is a grave concern of a spike in repeat strokes,” says Prof. David Tene, the director of the Stroke And Cognition Institute at Haifa’s Rambam hospital and the head of the Israeli Neurology Association.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Prof. Tene says that numerous people refrained from going to hospital during the coronavirus epidemic despite having symptoms of light strokes and this could potentially lead to lack of diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening conditions.
Professor Tene added that “from the information we have it appears that 40% of the average annual number of light strokes in Israel were ‘missed’ during the coronavirus outbreak as people did not go to hospital when symptoms appeared. The risk of contracting coronavirus outweighed the will to go to hospital and treat other health issues and thus those people who didn’t heed their body’s warnings could find themselves in grave danger.”
A passing stroke or mini-stroke can be a warning of more severe health problems. In many cases a far more severe stroke will hit within a short time afterwards. “There is a need to undergo immediate tests to locate the reason for the mini-stroke, to monitor the situation and to coordinate the appropriate preventive treatment in order to prevent future strokes,” warns Prof. Tene, adding that “these patients are ticking time bombs. Fast , accurate diagnosis could save them from severe disabilities and even from superfluous death.”
Tene recently presented a lecture about ways to prevent strokes and dementia at a virtual conference organized by the European Academy for Neurology (EAN), which is the foremost international forum on neurology issues.