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Churg-Strauss Syndrome: Honour To Whom It Is Due

May 10, 2010

I think it is shameful that now that the wind has blown and we have all seen the hidden recesses of the fowl, no one has given credit to Sahara Reporters for being the first medium to give Nigerians insight into Yar'Adua's exact ailment: Churg-Strauss Syndrome.

I think it is shameful that now that the wind has blown and we have all seen the hidden recesses of the fowl, no one has given credit to Sahara Reporters for being the first medium to give Nigerians insight into Yar'Adua's exact ailment: Churg-Strauss Syndrome.
One week after Yar'Adua's death, could it be that all the media experts in Nigeria also forgot even if those fighting tooth and nail for new political realignment and alliances deliberately 'forgot' to mention all the hide and seek that enveloped the Saudi treatment and escapism? Since Mallam Yar' Adua's demise, all we have been reading in the prints are the trademark encomiums from charlatans and bootlickers, singing his praises for indefinable legacies.
 
Sahara Reporters told us point-blank it was Churg-Strauss Syndrome, a terminal ailment, even when all the marabouts and dibias paying nocturnal visits to Aso Rock wanted us to believe otherwise.
 
Kudos to Sahara Reporters...let us say it now and enhance their credibility even for the future!
 
At all times,
 
Dejo Olowu.

OUR  PREVIOUS STORIES ON CHURG STRAUSS SYNDROME AND YAR'ADUA:

1st Report: Yar'adua Didn't Hand Over to Jonathan before Departing to Germany.

Last View on Thu 17th April, 2008
Last Modified on Tue 15th April, 2008 7:06:50 pm
Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
Saharareporters, New York


New details about President Umaru Yar’adua’s health have emerged, pointing to a carefully-managed power struggle in the Presidency at Abuja.

Saharareporters gather that after suffering swellings all over his body over the weekend of Saturday April 12 2008, Yar’Adua was flown out to Germany yesterday night after he barely managed to perform a widely publicized budget signing ceremony from his private residence in the presence of Goodluck Jonathan and a few officials. Only the State House camera crew were allowed to cover the event.

But prior to his departure from Nigeria, according to Aso Rock sources, the president handed over to the National Security Adviser, Major General Sarki Mukhtar (Rtd), the all time powerful Chief of Staff, General Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd) and the Secretary to the Federal Government, Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe, thus bypassing the official number two man, Goodluck Jonathan.

Saharareporters had reported sometime back that Mr. Jonathan is nothing more than a “social prefect” in Aso Rock, his main duties having been mostly tailored to appearing at social functions to represent his principal.

Also there have been speculations that the core Muslim Northern power bloc is not well-disposed to Jonathan taking over as president, in case Yar’adua becomes incapacitated and unable to carry out official duties. A document in limited circulation, sighted by Saharareporters, is explicit about the possible course of action should Yar’adua die of his current ailment: Mr. Jonathan is expected to resign as Vice-President or he will be forced to do so.

Though Presidency sources downplayed the latest health crisis as some “allergic reaction”, knowledgeable medical sources claim that Yar’adua’s current condition can only be managed for some time, but cannot be cured. It is gathered that his German doctors have communicated this to him since last year.

Yar’adua's medical condition degenerated a long time ago because he was misdiagnosed and treated for Asthma for a long time. His physician in Nigeria continued treating Yar’adua for Asthma with steroids leading to further damage to his health and associated mood changes.

His real ailment, Saharareporters was told, is known as "Churg-Strauss Syndrome", a disorder, according to medical journals, "that causes inflammation in blood vessels (vasculitis), which restricts blood flow to various organs. " . The disorder is believed to have damaged Yar'adua's kidneys before it was properly diagnosed.

"Although the disease may involve any organ, most commonly it affects your lungs and skin. The restricted blood flow to these organs can cause temporary or permanent damage."

Asthma for which Yar’adua physicians have treated him for a prolonged period of time is a common feature of Churg-Strauss syndrome. The disorder does not have any known cure.

Saharareporters does not have information about Yar'adua's whereabouts in Germany, but a source told our reporters that he is likely to be with attending physicians at the Department of Nephrology, Deutsche Klinik für Diagnostik, Wiesbaden, Germany.

He arrived Germany today -Tuesday, April 15 2008 and checked into the hospital in Wiesbaden at 12 noon. He is expected to return to Nigeria by the weekend.

2nd Report: Doctors Insist Yar'adua has Churg Strauss Syndrome-Saharareporters

On May 29, during an interview session with a select group of journalists to mark the first anniversary of his usurped presidency, Umaru Yar’adua tried to downplay the severity of his health problems. But several medical doctors knowledgeable about his physical condition have reaffirmed to Saharareporters that Yar'adua was diagnosed a few years ago for Churg Strauss disease—and has been on a regimen of treatment since. According to the same sources, Yar'adua is also dogged by asthma, which may have been responsible for his persistent cough and labored breathing throughout the interview session. Yar’adua admitted to having been treated for a kidney condition in 2000. Even so, he tried to create the impression that his symptoms, which he admitted to in the interviews, were unrelated. But the doctors who spoke anonymously to Saharareporters said the symptoms Yar'adua admitted to on national television “are consistent with the Churg Strauss syndrome.”

Dr. Salisu Barau Banye, Yar'adua’s personal physician, has been treating him over the years for asthma. Our sources indicated that, while governor of Katsina, Yar’adua had equipped the General Hospital in Katsina with dialysis machines to take care of his kidney treatments. Dr. Banye acted as the hospital’s medical director at the time. In the carefully packaged, nationally televised live interview, Yar'adua admitted that his arteries had dilated by 21/2 diameters, a condition that our sources describe as “vasculitis,” a major feature of Churg Strauss syndrome. Churg Strauss has a plethora of other symptoms, which may include symptoms such as psychiatric reactions as agitation or restlessness, which manifested by the inflation of the arteries of the brain. The syndrome also includes a condition called angioedema (accumulation of fluid in the face, which can also indicate the accumulation of fluid in the upper airway and compromise breathing in extreme cases), well-known cause of sudden death-a swelling of the face, can affect the ability to breathe, which Yar'adua rightly admitted during the chat.

One of the doctors who spoke to us said that medical ethics respects a patient’s right to confidentiality about his medical condition—but with some exceptions. “A man who is in public office owes it to the people he leads to be candid and upfront about his medical issues. From that perspective, President Yar'adua ought to have disclosed his true condition instead of picking and choosing symptoms that bugged him at different times of the life of the syndrome before it was properly diagnosed.” They allude to recent disclosures made by the two US frontline presidential candidates-Barack Obama and John McCain as well as Fidel Castro, and US Senator Edward Kennedy. Yar'adua, who takes steroids, was flown to Germany in 2007, weeks before the massively rigged April elections that brought him to power. He has since been in Germany twice for medical emergencies, even though one of the visits was disguised as a quasi-official visit to the country.

 In April, Yar’adua was flown to Germany after he had a scary relapse. He spent 11 days in Wiesbaden , Germany , close to five of those days in intensive care where he was reportedly intubated (put on respiratory support). He has since been trying to sell the hoax that his ailment was a simple case of allergic drug reaction. According to one of our medical sources, “What he didn’t tell the Nigerian public during his media chat was the underlying reason behind the adverse reaction to anti-malaria medication. Nor did he reveal that he was self-medicating on Metalcafin, an off the counter anti-malaria medicine when in fact he didn't have malaria as he claimed.” Churg Strauss syndrome has no known cure, even though it can be managed to prolong the life of its victim.  Even so, the doctors who spoke to Saharareporters insisted that a patient with Churg Strauss was not likely to have the energy to carry out demanding official duties.

 Yar'adua admits to suffering from Churg-Strauss syndrome

In a statement released a few hours ago in Abuja, aides of Nigeria's sickly leader, Umaru Yar'adua, admitted that he is suffering from “acute pericarditis,” a heart condition that results from complications of Churg-Strauss Syndrome.

The statement was written by Yar’adua’s personal physician, Salisu Banye, but distributed by chief spokesman, Segun Adeniyi.

The statement amounts to validation of Saharareporters’ disclosure a long time ago that Yar’adua is plagued by the degenerative disease.  

Acute pericarditis is the inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart. The condition could lead to heart attack and heart failure. Mr. Yar’adua already manifests other symptoms of Churg-Strauss Syndrome, including skin scarring, renal damage and peripheral nerve damage.

In his statement, Mr. Adeniyi stated, “The medical review and tests undertaken at the hospital have confirmed the initial diagnosis that the president is indeed suffering from acute pericarditis. He is now receiving treatment for the illness and he is responding remarkably well."

Mr. Adeniyi’s statement was silent on the date of return for Mr. Yar'adua who is on admission in a Saudi hospital. Saharareporters had revealed that the ailing Nigerian leader was unconscious for four hours on Tuesday night at the hospital in Jeddah. 

Meanwhile officials of Yar’adua’s regime have stepped up propaganda to mislead the Nigerian public about the severity of his health condition. In characteristic fashion, the regime’s operatives have planted stories in several newspapers to the effect that Mr. Yar’adua was now well enough and on his way to the Hajj.

Asked to comment on Yar’adua’s efforts to give an impression of improved health, one of the doctors said that a shot or two of carefully controlled substances—steroids--could always boost Yar'adua’s short-term ability to be active and to function at some minimum level of capability. “The steroids in his medicine cabinet could help him somewhat upbeat and healthy, but they certainly can’t sustain him for the long term,” said the doctor. During his presidential campaigns, Yar’adua had responded to lingering concerns about his state of health by bragging about his ability to play rounds of squash games.

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