Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-19
The Prognosis

The doctors press confer once
Tuesday was opened by White
House Press Secretary James c.
Hagerty with a warning that the
men who were about to hand down
their verdict were doctors, not
politicians. They are here to re-
port medically on their findings.
and only that" Mr.. Hagerty added.
He also reminded the newsmen that
the President had said he would
consider. more than the doctors
report. how he himself feels.
But II 1t had been hoped that
politics could be excluded from q
press conference on the Presidents
health in an election year. that
hope was vain. BY the time the
press conference was over the
needles seemed as ready as the
reporters to dive into Topic A.
The reporters first were handed
the text Of brief report from the
physicians which said:
. Mr.. Eisenhower's health con
tinues to be satisfactory"
o There were mo symptoms In
dicating either weakness Of the
heart muscle or insufficient coronary
reserve--that Is. lack Of blood
supply to the contracting heart
muscle"
. No enlargement Of the heart
has occurred.
o Pulse. temperature and blood
pressure are normal.
. Recovery has been good.
tAccording to a Washington
physician who studied the report
and the text Of the doctors news
conference. the picture painted
was that Of man In normal
physical condition. The anti
coagulant being administered
periodically to the President
DR.. Snyder said 1t was the only
drug he was getting-in all nkeli-
hood is dicoumarol, a clover
derivative frequently used in
heart cases. the physician added.
The purpose Of this drug is to
inhibit the formation of blood
clots, which are the cause of
coronary thrombosis
'chonces Are
As the news conference continued
last Tuesday. reporters pressed Drs.
White and Snyder with increasing
vigor DIR. White finally got into
the spirit Of the news conference
game, becoming progressively less
cautious and less insistent on quail
flying phrases. He was even agree
able. at one point, to rephrasing
his statement to suit the conve-
nience Of the press.
This occurred when q newsman
asked DR.. White to omit the quail
flying phrase chances are" in
this sentence:
I'VE believe that, medically. the
chances are that the President
should be able to carry on an active
life for another five to 10 years."
DR.. White agreed to leave
chances are" out. I'VE have al
ready said, fully aware OF the haz-
ards and uncertainties that lie
ahead" he added.
Later. DR.. White said, in answer
to a question. that he would vote
for Mr.. Eisenhower should the
President run again.
But DR.. Snyder continued to be
cautious. Asked II the President
was in as good health as he was
before his heart attack last Sep
TENDER a.. DR.. Snyder replied:
i thought he was in very good
health just prior to his heart at
tack and would say that we
were little led astray in our esti-
mate that he was as we'll as we
thought he was, so far as ultimate
events developed. But there is no
question In my mind that the Pres
ident. just prior to this attack, was
in better physical condition than /
had known him to be in 10 years,
and yet he had cardiac accident"
Then DR.. Snyder added signifi-
cantly:
1--WE don't know that he won't
have another cardiac accident"
DR.. White refused to answer q
question, on the ground that it was
political, whether there would be
any medical limitation" on the
type of campaign Mr.. Eisenhower
could conduct. II he runs.
Presidents Regimen
DR.. White referred to Mr.. Hag-
erty q query which questioned q
statement that MIR. Eisenhower has
been carrying the full burden of
the Presidency since the first Of the