Recently, the death of Olatz Vazquez it shocked the networks and the media. The journalist died at the age of 27 for a gastric cancer. After months with abdominal pain and discomfort, attributed to possible celiac disease, ulcers, gastritis or even menstrual pain, the young woman received an appointment for a gastroscopy last April. The Covid-19 delayed the diagnostic process and on June 9 she was diagnosed with stage IV gastric cancer, with metastasis.
Unfortunately, it’s not just happened to Olatz. It is estimated that around 21% of new cancer cases have not been diagnosed due to the health crisis, they explain from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). This percentage means that some 55,000 people have started their treatment late or what is the same, one in five cases.
Experts agree that, precisely, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer are essential for a favorable prognosis. The Spanish Association Against Cancer, estimates that around 90% of rectal and colon cancer cases could be cured if detected in early stages. This early detection would also reduce breast cancer mortality by 25-30%.
Many patients have not been cared for due to the collapse of health or for fear of going to hospitals
Cancer is not the only pathology affected, it has also happened with heart diseases. As reported by the Platform of Patient Organizations (POP), during confinement the cases of interventionism for acute myocardial infarction were reduced by 40%. The Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) also warns that the pandemic increased the time in ischemia – the minutes that pass between the onset of symptoms until medical assistance – which before Covid-19 was 200 minutes and as a result of the coronavirus reached 233. From the Spanish Society of Neurology reveal that action protocols against stroke also decreased by up to 28%.
Covid-19 has not decreased the incidence of these diseases, but rather many patients have not been treated due to the collapse of healthcare or fear of going to hospitals. By enduring the pain and delaying the medical consultation, these patients “increase the risk of dying at home and only arrive at the hospital when they find a heart attack that is already evolving or has become complicated”, collects the 2021 report of the POP.
In the case of patients with respiratory diseases, the delays in appointments or the lack of diagnoses, have translated into a 30% increase in the number of deaths, explains to EFE the president of POP, Carina Escobar.
This Patient Platform, in a study of the impact of Covid-19, reveals that 69% of patients chronic disease patients saw the consultations he had already scheduled canceled during the toughest months of the pandemic. Of those surveyed, “80% of the people found it difficult to obtain medication during the alarm state” and “only one in three was able to communicate with the healthcare professional electronically”. With the consequences that all this entails.
Because we all need health … ConSalud.es
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