We have all been inundated with what appears to
be a purely fabricated story about the health of the flagbearer of the New
Patriotic Party, the venerable Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo.A confuted
news magazine, Africawatch, has published an article about the presidential
candidate of the NPP as suffering from major health problems, including an
enlarged weakening heart, an acute kidney injury (possibly causing him to retain
urine), inflammatory mucosal dental problems and near demise by metastasizing
prostate cancer.
Like most of you, I was quite surprised to read the
article but immediately recognized that the Nana Addo’s political opponents, who
may have very little to offer to Ghanaians in the election season, may resort to
desperate tactics. Desperate people do desperate things. I began to read the
article and right away noticed three key issues of concern.
Before I deal
with the issues identified, I need to state from the outright that I am not Nana
Addo's personal physician. So I cannot speak directly to the state of his
health. However, I do know him personally, and he knows me as a practicing
physician. My opinions are reflections on the article published by the Steve
Malory’s Africawatch magazine.
The first issue is the accuracy of the
information contained in the report. Let me quote a portion of the article
below:
"A chest X-ray taken on January 14, 2014, showed him to have acute
kidney injury, which kidney experts say is a serious condition that can leave
sufferers in considerable pain.”
As a practicing physician, I have never
obtained a chest X-ray to diagnose an acute kidney injury. So when I first read
the referenced statement above, I did not quite know what to do with it. The
usual tests needed to diagnose a suspected acute kidney injury are Urinalysis
(analysis of the patient's urine), CBC (a complete blood count), SED rate (
Westergren sedimentation rate), and CMP (comprehensive metabolic profile). At
the risk of sounding a bit too technical, a UA will give information about
spilling or wasting of protein, microalbumin, RBC casts, SG, hematuria, etc., in
excess of what is expected. A normocytic anemia on CBC may likewise reflect a
waning hematopoietin secretion by a diseased kidney. Aberrancy in the Westergren
sed rate will further guide as to the presence of vasculitis,
glomerulonephritis, or glomerulonephropathies. In such case, a needle guided
biopsy may be needed. With respect to imaging one may obtain Ultrasound of the
Kidneys, and if further testing is required a non-contrast CT (computed
tomography) scan, rather than the gadolinium-enhanced is preferred to minimize
the reported post-study fibrosing of the affected organ. MRI/A (magnetic
resonance imaging/angiography) may be obtained to evaluate the presence of a
stenosing RA (renal artery) or delineate other vasculopathies.
The
emphasis on Chest X-ray in the article to diagnose acute damage to the kidneys
raised my suspicion if the entire article may have been written by a hired
non-medical personnel to paint a political figure in such a negative
light.
I noticed that the article stated none of the required tests to
diagnose the alleged disease. To further satisfy my curiosity and to make sure
that I was current on my information, I checked several reliable and reputable
sources to authenticate the use of the chest Xray to diagnose the problem. I
checked sources at some of the world-renowned medical centers such as Case
Western Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Emory and Vanderbilt University medical centers.
I also checked public sources like WebMD, Medscape, and Merck Manual of
Diagnostics -professional edition. I found none to corroborate the use of chest
X-ray to make the definitive diagnosis of the alleged disease. None whatsoever.
I also called fellow medical colleagues here in the US and University of Ghana
at Legon. All thought the information was spurious or more information was
needed.
I asked myself what possible reasons could have prompted the
article, if not to malign someone. The symptoms of acute kidney damage range
from innocuous nausea and vomiting to the overt seizures and coma. Everyone has
had nausea and stomach aches. If the NPP presidential candidate had experienced
seizures or slipped into a coma, that would have made news in this electronic
age. Nana has never experienced such overt symptoms, and hopefully never in the
future. Folks, given all of the above, isn’t it fair to ask if the information
was possibly cooked to damage Nana politically, given the fast-approaching
election on December 7, 2016?
Let me add that a chest Xray may be
adjunctive in the event of suspected acute pulmonary edema-i.e. fluid overload
in the lungs and evolving cardiac tamponade (fluid around the sac of the heart).
But here again, such a patient would be in intensive care (due to rapidly
deteriorating medical condition) where a preferable testing would be an
echocardiography or catheterization, an invasive instrumentation for exact
measurements of cardiac functions. Such information will then be instructive as
to the need for the occasional peri-cardiocentesis, and other treatment
interventions. Notice none of these measures were reported in the AfricaWatch
article. Were they mere oversight, or was it because some diseases were conjured
from thin air to smear Nana Addo?
If the flagbearer was ever in such a
critical condition in Ghana, United States, United Kingdom, or where ever, do
you believe Nana's family would EVER be able to keep such a SECRET about such an
admired, well known public figure from the rest of the Ghanaian public? The
answer is emphatic no. In fact, Nana’s itineraries are always published in
advance of his travels, and Steve Malory and his cohorts carefully placed Nana's
well-published travel dates to coincide with alleged medical
treatment.
The article is just a miserably failed veil attempt to taint
Nana Addo. Simply stated, I doubt the reported $2.5 million sponsored Steve
Malory's discredited Africawatch magazine article, and should be repudiated by
ALL, and withdrawn immediately.
The second issue I had with the
purported report is the credibility or the authenticity of some of the
information. The discredited publishers placed such a premium on the Wellington
Hospital where Nana Addo was reportedly hospitalized. I was curious as to the
choice of the medical center and began to search for information about the
hospital. I was surprised at what I found. Several portions of the Africawatch
report are PLAGIARIZED from Wikipedia, and other sources. Below are examples of
the plagiarized statements:
First plagiarized
statement:
The Wellington Hospital (where Akufo-Addo is
receiving treatment) is the largest independent hospital in the UK, famous for
its cardiac services, neurosurgery, liver and HPB medicine, rehabilitation,
gynaecology, orthopaedics, and other services. (Source is Africa Watch
article).
The Wellington Hospital (in St John's Wood, North London) is
the largest independent hospital in the United Kingdom, (and part of HCA
International hospital group). It is known for its cardiac services,
neurosurgery, liver and HPB medicine, rehabilitation, gynaecology, orthopaedics,
and other services. (Wikipedia page on Wellington
Hospital).
Second plagiarized statement:
The
Wellington Hospital has four main sites: North Tower, South Tower, Central
Building, and a new Platinum Medical Centre. It is at the Platinum Medical
Centre that the diagnostics of the examinations done on Akufo-Addo’s ill health
were conducted. ( Source AfricaWatch article).
The Wellington Hospital
has four main sites: North Building, South Building, Central Building and the
new Platinum Medical Centre. The most recent addition to The Wellington Hospital
is the new Platinum Medical Centre. ( Source Wikipedia page on Wellington
Hospital).
There were several plagiarized statements throughout the
article that time will not permit me to reprint them here. The bottom line is
simply this: do you believe a plagiarized paid article to smear a political
opponent some 95- 100 day before an election? I persuade you not to yield to
their insinuations.
Let me touch on the issue of prostate cancer
treatment. The publishers conveniently chose a disease that is quite common in
all living men of Nana's age. What drew my concern is that PSA level is not used
to make a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Here again, the authors dwell on a high
PSA to make claims of prostate cancer. I have patients who have PSA levels
higher than the 80 or 90 reported in the AfricaWatch article who do not have
cancer. One such gentleman is a deacon at church I used to attend. Levels of PSA
are not indicative of prostate cancer. The rate of increase in PSA levels may be
concerning but not the actual figure per se. The second issue with the prostate
cancer story is the reported modality of treatment with electron beam therapy.
The EBT requires daily treatment for several weeks to months. Is anyone aware
that Nana Addo has been hospitalized or been seen going to a hospital for months
on a daily basis?
I emphatically urge readers to dismiss the Africawatch
story about Nana Addo’s health as mere speculative tactics of paid journalists
who want to score cheap propaganda points.
Let’s all pray for the health
of ALL our leaders irrespective of our political
persuasion.
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