Korle-Bu records 5,000 neurological cases in 2010.

Page 32: Daily Graphic, May 8, 2012. Story: Albert K. Salia THE Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital recorded more than 5,000 cases of neurological disorders in 2010. What is alarming about the problem is the fact that out of the more than 100 patients who attended, five of them reported with broken spines. Neurological disorders also constitute about 15 per cent of admissions at the nation’s premier hospital. Although the figures for 2011 are yet to be released, a neuro-surgeon at the Neuro-Surgical Unit of the hospital, Dr Thomas Dakurah, told the Daily Graphic that the figures were alarming and called for urgent steps to address the situation. Neurological disorders are conditions that affect the nervous system, comprising the brain, the spinal cord and the nerves. The disorders cause deterioration in the movement, speech, balance and co-ordination of victims and, at worse, can lead to memory loss. Expatiating on the problem in an interview, Dr Dakurah said although neurological disorders could be congenital, most of them were acquired. He said the congenital problems could mostly be identified in patients suffering from hydrocephalus (patients with abnormal heads), persons born with a swell at the back and myelomeningocoele, a deformity in the spinal cord. He said most of the congenital cases could be helped if the problem was detected and reported early. According to Dr Dakurah, acquired neurological disorders included patients suffering from stroke, psychological trauma as a result of accidents, injury to the head, meningitis, epilepsy and cynosis. He explained, for instance, that persons suffering from hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, which many people acquire through lifestyles, were predisposed to getting stroke. He said the most common neurological disorders were low back pain, neck pain and numbness. Regrettably, he said, most people who suffered from these disorders believed it was normal but paid a heavy price when they deteriorated into stroke or paralysis. He said it was important that people sought full neurological assessment to determine the extent of damage or disorder before embarking on any form of treatment. He said as a result of space challenges at the Outpatients Department (OPD) of the hospital, the unit only attended to OPD cases every Thursday, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., stressing. “We sometimes go beyond 11 p.m.” That, Dr Dakurah explained, was because some of the patients travelled from across the country and other parts of the sub-region to be attended to at Korle Bu because the hospital had the expertise to deal with the problem.