There s some consideration that he will have some extra testing, particularly non-invasive physiologic testing of the heart, and it seems that all those judgments are very reasonable. Explain to us the difference in President Yeltsin s behavior. Heart patients that have very advanced heart disease cannot have enough blood supplying the needs of their body so that they can dance and appear very frisky as he did earlier. It s quite possible that he has gone into what we would call congestive heart failure, which fortunately is a reversible situation if his heart can be fixed. He does look very chronically ill on the videos that are supplied.
Alcohol can have a direct depressing effect on the heart if it s used over many years.
Additionally, the concern about his liver may be alcohol related, and if he has very severe liver disfunction, this represents one of his more major risks for cardiac surgery. Well, Dr. Jones, thank you very much for being with us. Thank you, Elizabeth.