According to administrators of the private hospital in Kathmandu where she was admitted, Sita Dahal, the First Lady of Nepal and the wife of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, passed away on Wednesday morning following a cardiac arrest. Sita Dahal was suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological disorder, the hospital announced. She died at 8:33 am according to a statement by the Norvic International Hospital.
“Mrs Sita Dahal 69 yrs/female, known case Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy, Parkinsonism, Diabetes Mellitus-II and hypertension under (on/off) Domiciliary oxygen with PEG feeding and indwelling catheter went into cardiac arrest at 8:00 AM 27th Ashad (July 12). Despite resuscitation, she could not be revived and declared dead at 8:33 AM,” Professor Dr. Yubraj Sharma, personal physician of the Nepal Prime Minister said.
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare brain disorder that causes problems with movement, walking and balance, and eye movement. It results from damage to nerve cells in the brain that control thinking and body movement.
The disorder’s long name indicates that the disease worsens (progressive) and causes weakness (palsy) by damaging certain parts of the brain above nerve cell clusters called nuclei (supranuclear) that control eye movement.
PSP is different from Parkinson’s disease-another movement disorder-although they share some symptoms. Currently, there is no effective treatment for PSP, but some symptoms can be managed with medication or other interventions.
In October last year, Sita Dahal was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after her health deteriorated. She was taken to several hospitals in India and Nepal for additional care, but her condition did not get better. Doctors claim that PSP is a rare disease that affects only 5–6 people out of every 100,000.