Bahamas News
05-04-05, - 10:36 AM
Christie Falls Ill
Macushla N. Pinder
The Bahama Journal
After Prime Minister Perry Christie was rushed to hospital early yesterday morning for “severe” hypertension, doctors reported later in the afternoon that he had essentially recovered by about 99.5 percent, with full recovery expected before the end of the week.
According to cardiologist, Dr. Conville Brown, who is a member of Mr. Christie’s medical team, further investigations indicated that the Prime Minister is resting "quite comfortably at this point and his heart is functioning well".
"The muscle strength is where we would like to see it and of course with respect to any particular conditions that could further put him at risk, we seem to have eliminated most of those at this point," Dr. Brown reported during the third media briefing on the prime minister’s health.
"So we are quite pleased so far…We do plan to move him from the Intensive Care Unit either on Wednesday or Thursday. But one of the things that we need to be able to do is to police the amount of visitors. But he is going to need a month of convalescence considering the amount of rest he requires."
Mr. Christie’s personal physician, Dr. Perry Gomez, indicated that his patient "appeared to be in very good spirits, smiling, telling jokes and getting back to his normal self very quickly."
According to Dr. Gomez, the Prime Minister is scheduled to undergo another series of tests today.
Mr. Christie’s "active" medical treatment came after he was rushed to hospital after complaining that he was not feeling well.
Dr. Gomez said around 4:30am he received a call from Mr. Christie’s wife, Bernadette, who indicated that her husband was not feeling well and was complaining of numbness in his hands.
"I met him in good spirits, sitting up and I conducted an examination at his bedside and I determined that he was fully consciousness and oriented. He had his strengths in all his limbs, but I wanted to determine what his blood pressure readings were like," Dr. Gomez told the press during the first of several press briefings.
"We subsequently arranged to bring him to the emergency room of the hospital where it was discovered that he had severe high blood pressure and we believe that this is the explanation for the symptoms that he experienced earlier in the morning. He was investigated and given therapy in the emergency room."
A typical blood pressure reading would be 120/80 mmHg. In severe cases, the former figure (the systolic pressure) elevates to in excess of 180 mmHg – which puts one at risk for a number of ailments, among them heart failure, a heart attack or a stroke.
But Dr. Gomez assured the press that Mr. Christie did not suffer a stroke, "not by strict definition."
"He has full use of his limbs. He has not lost consciousness. It is just a severe hypertension that we are treating and I think he will do well," Dr. Gomez said.
"The prognosis seems good. He had a CAT scan of the brain, which was normal so there was no evidence of bleeding on the brain and that augurs well for his prognosis," Dr. Gomez indicated.
Calming fears of the Prime Minister being admitted to ICU for his condition, Dr. Gomez added that in the case of severe high blood pressure, it is a normal occurrence, "if space is available."
Anyone can suffer from high blood pressure, according to physicians, but they say certain factors can seriously aggravate the ailment and increase the risk of complications, like hereditary, obesity, smoking, diabetes, kidney diseases, high alcohol intake, excessive salt intake, lack of exercise and certain medicines like steroids.
But according to Dr. Gomez, the Prime Minister has never exhibited any of the symptoms of which he complained.
In fact, Dr. Gomez added that Mr. Christie receives regular check ups.
"He had a full evaluation about two months ago with a full scale of blood tests, screening tests etc, and they were all normal," he said. "And so he was in good condition."
The doctors said in the future, the Prime Minister’s blood pressure needs to be kept at an acceptable level, considering the potential consequences.
"We would advise him about changes concerning his diet, exercise programmes and of course, at this point – given this particular event – he would absolutely need to be on medication to make sure that there are no acute exacerbations or increases in his blood pressure because that can have detrimental effects," Dr. Brown pointed out.
Mr. Christie’s condition created quite a scare among Cabinet Ministers, who all – with the exception of Housing and National Insurance Minister Shane Gibson and Foreign Affairs and Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell, who were said to be on their way to the capital from assignments – rushed to the Princess Margaret Hospital upon hearing the news.
While doctors are confident that Mr. Christie will make a "full recovery", they have urged him to get a lot of rest.
"If you are the CEO of the country, it’s easy for all of us to say you need to sit back and take a break, but there are several demands that are placed on someone in his condition," Dr. Brown said.
"Having said that, you are not much good to anyone if you are disabled or dead. So yes, we are going to have to strongly advise him of the need to take some time for himself so that he can in fact have that down time, during which time people are allowed to rejuvenate themselves."
Macushla N. Pinder
The Bahama Journal
After Prime Minister Perry Christie was rushed to hospital early yesterday morning for “severe” hypertension, doctors reported later in the afternoon that he had essentially recovered by about 99.5 percent, with full recovery expected before the end of the week.
According to cardiologist, Dr. Conville Brown, who is a member of Mr. Christie’s medical team, further investigations indicated that the Prime Minister is resting "quite comfortably at this point and his heart is functioning well".
"The muscle strength is where we would like to see it and of course with respect to any particular conditions that could further put him at risk, we seem to have eliminated most of those at this point," Dr. Brown reported during the third media briefing on the prime minister’s health.
"So we are quite pleased so far…We do plan to move him from the Intensive Care Unit either on Wednesday or Thursday. But one of the things that we need to be able to do is to police the amount of visitors. But he is going to need a month of convalescence considering the amount of rest he requires."
Mr. Christie’s personal physician, Dr. Perry Gomez, indicated that his patient "appeared to be in very good spirits, smiling, telling jokes and getting back to his normal self very quickly."
According to Dr. Gomez, the Prime Minister is scheduled to undergo another series of tests today.
Mr. Christie’s "active" medical treatment came after he was rushed to hospital after complaining that he was not feeling well.
Dr. Gomez said around 4:30am he received a call from Mr. Christie’s wife, Bernadette, who indicated that her husband was not feeling well and was complaining of numbness in his hands.
"I met him in good spirits, sitting up and I conducted an examination at his bedside and I determined that he was fully consciousness and oriented. He had his strengths in all his limbs, but I wanted to determine what his blood pressure readings were like," Dr. Gomez told the press during the first of several press briefings.
"We subsequently arranged to bring him to the emergency room of the hospital where it was discovered that he had severe high blood pressure and we believe that this is the explanation for the symptoms that he experienced earlier in the morning. He was investigated and given therapy in the emergency room."
A typical blood pressure reading would be 120/80 mmHg. In severe cases, the former figure (the systolic pressure) elevates to in excess of 180 mmHg – which puts one at risk for a number of ailments, among them heart failure, a heart attack or a stroke.
But Dr. Gomez assured the press that Mr. Christie did not suffer a stroke, "not by strict definition."
"He has full use of his limbs. He has not lost consciousness. It is just a severe hypertension that we are treating and I think he will do well," Dr. Gomez said.
"The prognosis seems good. He had a CAT scan of the brain, which was normal so there was no evidence of bleeding on the brain and that augurs well for his prognosis," Dr. Gomez indicated.
Calming fears of the Prime Minister being admitted to ICU for his condition, Dr. Gomez added that in the case of severe high blood pressure, it is a normal occurrence, "if space is available."
Anyone can suffer from high blood pressure, according to physicians, but they say certain factors can seriously aggravate the ailment and increase the risk of complications, like hereditary, obesity, smoking, diabetes, kidney diseases, high alcohol intake, excessive salt intake, lack of exercise and certain medicines like steroids.
But according to Dr. Gomez, the Prime Minister has never exhibited any of the symptoms of which he complained.
In fact, Dr. Gomez added that Mr. Christie receives regular check ups.
"He had a full evaluation about two months ago with a full scale of blood tests, screening tests etc, and they were all normal," he said. "And so he was in good condition."
The doctors said in the future, the Prime Minister’s blood pressure needs to be kept at an acceptable level, considering the potential consequences.
"We would advise him about changes concerning his diet, exercise programmes and of course, at this point – given this particular event – he would absolutely need to be on medication to make sure that there are no acute exacerbations or increases in his blood pressure because that can have detrimental effects," Dr. Brown pointed out.
Mr. Christie’s condition created quite a scare among Cabinet Ministers, who all – with the exception of Housing and National Insurance Minister Shane Gibson and Foreign Affairs and Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell, who were said to be on their way to the capital from assignments – rushed to the Princess Margaret Hospital upon hearing the news.
While doctors are confident that Mr. Christie will make a "full recovery", they have urged him to get a lot of rest.
"If you are the CEO of the country, it’s easy for all of us to say you need to sit back and take a break, but there are several demands that are placed on someone in his condition," Dr. Brown said.
"Having said that, you are not much good to anyone if you are disabled or dead. So yes, we are going to have to strongly advise him of the need to take some time for himself so that he can in fact have that down time, during which time people are allowed to rejuvenate themselves."