Doctors hope to begin her treatment after two weeks
The head of the five-member medical board tasked with treating the incarcerated BNP chairperson has said that Khaleda Zia’s left arm has ended up paralyzed and bent as she did not take her arthritis medicines properly.
“She has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for the past 30 years, which has played a role in the paralytic deformity of her left arm. These kinds of problems are rising as her gout is worsening,” Prof Dr Abdul Jalil Chowdhury told a press briefing at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital on Monday.
He said Khaleda also did not regularly take the medicines prescribed for arthritis and that is why her condition has deteriorated, leaving her left arm paralyzed and bent.
A former chairman of BSMMU’s medicine department, Dr Chowdhury also said that Khaleda was mainly suffering from gout and joint pain, apart from diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.
“She is also having trouble with one of her knees that had been replaced. So that’s another issue,” he added.
He said that Khaleda had been suffering from diabetes for the past 20 years, but she did not take the prescribed insulin. “So we will have to find out the level of her diabetes first.”
The BNP chief was admitted to the BSMMU Hospital on Saturday for better treatment following a High Court order.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is being escorted to BSMMU Hospital in Dhaka on October 6, 2018 | Focus Bangla
She has been suffering from a number of ailments for a long time, according to doctors who earlier treated her in jail, where she landed in a corruption case on February 8.
At Monday’s press briefing, medical board member rheumatology department’s Prof Dr Syed Atiqul Haqalso said that they would begin Khaleda’s main treatment after two weeks.
“We will run more tests in the next two weeks. We have already run some tests. The main treatment will begin after we receive all the reports and bring the issues she is currently suffering under control.
“However, we won’t be able start treating her if her diabetes is not brought under control. So, we cannot say for sure that we will proceed with her treatment even after two weeks,” he added.
Dr Haq also said that Khaleda would begin to receive physiotherapy from today.
Earlier, the BNP chief’s personal doctors who had met her in the old Dhaka central jail said that she suffered a “mild stroke” on June 5.
On September 16, another government-formed medical board had suggested admitting Khaleda to a hospital like BSMMU,although they said they did not find symptoms of any serious disease in her during medical tests.
On April 7, Khaleda had also undergone some medical tests at BSMMU Hospital because of her illness.
BNP has long been demanding shifting of their party chief to United Hospital in the city’s Gulshan for better treatment as the conditions of her left arm and leg were worsening.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.
