Boris Johnson has implied that politicians can be for- given many vices provided that dullness is not among them. He cites Silvio Berlusconi as someone who can be forgiven outrageous behaviour because he never fails to entertain. There are other politicians who are apparently vice-free but are also charismatic, and can be relied upon to amuse as well as inform. Lord Winston is such a man.

Lord Winston talked to Hadassah UK soon after Ariel Sharon (right), the Israeli Prime Minister, suffered two strokes and was admitted to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. It is arguably the finest hospital in the Middle East and Hadassah UK is its British supporters’ charitable association.

Lord Winston, a surgeon, made his reputation on his research into the association between pelvic infection and infertility. He then became an expert on infertility in gen- eral, and later a pundit on the development and upbringing of children. No parent, grandparent or children’s doctor could have afforded to miss his TV series on children’s personalities, delivered in a style that might have entertained even Boris Johnson.

However, he didn’t talk to Hadassah’s supporters about medicine, but entertained a high-powered audience, including many of the country’s top medical academics, by discussing comparative religion.

Hadassah Hospital is a remarkable institution. It employs staff and treats patients regardless of their ethnic origin or their religion. Its ethos reminded me of my father talking about the care of the wounded in the First World War. Within the sanctuary of the regimental aid post, Germans and British were treated according to their degree of medical urgency, without regard to rank or race.

Ariel Sharon couldn’t have gone to a better unit, but his case was obviously hopeless after he had his second stroke. A stroke is the name given to the damage caused to the brain when its blood supply is disrupted by a clot or a haemorrhage. It is therefore usually symptomatic of some underlying condition of the circulation. Frequently the cardiac rhythm is irregular, often as the result of atrial fibrillation, the blood pressure may be raised or there may be cardiac abnormalities.

It is known that Sharon was suffering from a previously undiagnosed congenital cardiac abnormality, and that his second stroke, a cerebral haemorrhage, followed anti-coagulation after his first episode, an ischaemic stroke (a stroke caused by a clot in a cerebral artery).

It is remarkable that Sharon is still alive. Although recovery is impossible, his survival has reminded the medical world of the standard of diagnosis and care that the Hadassah provides. It is not only prime ministers who receive this level of care, but so far as I can understand, all those admitted to Hadassah, whether Arab, Christian or Jew.

Anti-coagulation is life-saving, but carries a risk of inducing cerebral haemorrhage. It is essential for those who suffer from atrial fibrillation to have the right degree of anti-coagulation. This problem affects 5 per cent of the UK population over 65, 10 per cent of those over 70 and 30 per cent of the over- 75s. If it is left untreated, and the patient has no anti-coagulation, the risk of a stroke is increased fivefold.

Atrial fibrillation causes an irregularly irregular heartbeat in which the atria, the contracting chambers of the heart, are beating out of synchrony with the ventricles, the pumping chambers. These possibly preventable occurrences account for 100,000 strokes a year in this country. People who are fibrillating without anti-coagulation are three times more likely to suffer a disabling or fatal stroke than those who have a normal cardiac rhythm.

Taking warfarin reduces the incidence of stroke by 68 per cent and is part of the general treatment for many cardiac arrhythmias.

Hadassah UK, 020-7723 1144: uk.office@hadassah.org
Stroke Association helpline: 0845 3033100: www.stroke.org.uk