Doctors raise alarm over silent-killer blood clot and heart attack

Blood-clot deaths are sudden because the condition is largely ignored, but in it lurks more serious ailments like stroke and heart attacks. BD Graphic/Gennevieve Nahinga  Nation Media Group

By SARAH OOKO

In Summary

• Blood-clot deaths are sudden because the condition is largely ignored, but in it lurks more serious ailments like stroke and heart attacks.
• Its symptoms have been wrongly diagnosed or treated as mundane attacks like muscle pains that require no more than relaxants. These do not work, warn medics.
• Cases of sudden death are rising in Kenya but myths and ignorance have clouded thorough debating of the subject, medical experts have warned.

“Prevention is better than cure,” is how doctors summarise the steps to dealing with blood clot, a condition that is now rated a silent killer in Kenya.

Blood-clot deaths are sudden because the condition is largely ignored, but in it lurks more serious ailments like stroke and heart attacks.

Its symptoms have been wrongly diagnosed or treated as mundane attacks like muscle pains that require no more than relaxants. These do not work, warn medics.

Doctors are raising the alarm that such half-hearted approaches may turn preventable conditions into silent killers.

Prof Elijah Ogolla, a cardiologist at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), says that blood clots can occur in major veins, mainly in the leg but also in other body parts such as arms and the lower abdomen. This condition is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

It usually interferes with the flow of blood, thus causing swelling, pain and tenderness in the affected area. Sometimes, the skin changes colour and feels warm. In severe cases, it may lead to the
formation of painful wounds on the leg.

“If the clots are not detected and treated in time, they may break free and travel through the blood stream to the heart and into the lungs,” says Prof Ogolla.

Due to lack of awareness, these symptoms are often disregarded and most people do not seek medical advice, preferring muscle relaxants or massage. This grows into a more serious condition.

Cases of sudden death are rising in Kenya but myths and ignorance have clouded thorough debating of the subject, medical experts have warned.

It is common to hear claims of witchcraft or stress being peddled whenever such “mysterious deaths” occurred in seemingly healthy people.

Medical experts are however raising a red flag as more Kenyans lose their lives in this manner. Doctors says the bulk of these deaths are as a result of blood clots in veins or arteries.

Strokes and heart problems contribute immensely to the burden of cardiovascular diseases —a group of disorders that occur in the heart and blood vessels.

According to the World Health Organisation, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally. They kill about 17 million people annually, with 80 per cent of the cases occurring in middle- and low-income countries like Kenya.

Out of all the CVD deaths, a whopping 13 million are due to only two conditions: coronary heart disease and stroke. This is expected to rise to 23 million by 2030.

Thus, without appropriate interventions to manage and prevent abnormal blood clot conditions, Kenya risks losing its energetic and dependable human resource for economic development.