Nixon’s Health Now Listed as Critical

Former President Richard Nixon took a “turn for the worse” Tuesday, and was returned to the intensive care unit at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center where his condition was described by his doctors as critical.

“He is having every possible attention,” said Dr. Fred Plum, the hospital’s neurologist-in-chief, at a late evening press conference. “The next one to three days are a critical period. His prognosis is guarded.” The former President suffered a stroke at home Monday night, causing partial paralysis on his right side and loss of speech. He appeared to have stabilized on Tuesday, and was moved to a private room at the hospital. But early in the evening he appeared to become drowsy in his hospital room and physicians suspected there could be brain swelling, a complication of strokes. A CT scan confirmed the diagnosis.

Plum told reporters that Nixon was “under closer scrutiny” by a team of 12 nurses and numerous doctors.

For the first time, doctors described the attack Nixon suffered on Monday as a “major” stroke.

Plum also confirmed that Nixon had been undergoing outpatient treatment for an irregular heartbeat before he entered the hospital and that a blood thinner had been prescribed in an effort to prevent a stroke. Strokes can be a complication of cardiac arrhythmias.

Nixon will continue to receive anticoagulants as well as drugs to reduce intracranial swelling, Plum said, adding that Nixon could be awakened.

The sudden news conference came after a day of hopeful prognosis for the 81-year-old former chief executive.

Earlier, his internist, Dr. Michael Giordano, said Nixon “is awake, alert, in good spirits and able to understand. It is hoped, but uncertain, that he will have improvement in his neurologic condition.”

Nixon continued to receive anti-coagulation medication designed to battle blood clots which could cause additional strokes.

Strokes--which damage the brain by causing the blood supply to be interrupted or restricted--strike about 500,000 people a year and are the nation’s third leading cause of death.

Two of the people closest to Nixon--his wife, Pat, and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, suffered strokes and made excellent recoveries. Pat Nixon died from lung cancer last year.

“Ike had a stroke that interfered with his language, but he recovered,” said Dr. J. P. Mohr, professor of clinical neurology and director of the stroke clinic at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The physician noted that initial appearances can be deceiving and that people who look “terrible” the first few days can recover.

Early in the day, Elizabeth Johnson, a press aide in Nixon’s office in New Jersey, said “He is out of intensive care. He seems to be very alert. His mind is fully aware of what’s happening. It’s just not long enough for the doctors to know.”

Nixon was taken by ambulance from his home in Park Ridge, N.J., to the medical center alongside the East River in Manhattan at dinner time on Monday. His daughters, Tricia Cox and Julie Eisenhower, rushed to his side.

Johnson said the nation’s 37th President suffered the stroke as he walked into his home from a porch. He did not collapse, and managed to notify his housekeeper, Heidi Retter, that he was ill. She helped him sit down and an ambulance was summoned.

Physicians treating the former President will monitor whether and to what degree speech and movement returns while guarding for respiratory and urinary tract infections and other complications, such as pulmonary embolisms, which can strike bedridden stroke patients.

Nixon already has received a variety of laboratory blood studies. A CT scan did not reveal any internal bleeding, which permitted doctors to prescribe the anticoagulation therapy.

In the initial phase, physicians specializing in treating strokes said Nixon’s medical team will continue to seek to arrest his brain injury.

Nixon was the only President forced to resign from the White House by the threat of impeachment after the Watergate scandal, the 1972 break-in by Republican operatives at the Democratic Party’s headquarters in Washington’s Watergate office complex.

He served as chief executive from Jan. 20, 1969, to Aug. 9, 1974, and initially dropped from the limelight before returning to the public scene. Part statesman, part gut-fighting politician, few figures stirred such passion and controversy at times during his long career.

On Tuesday, when his stroke became widely known, Nixon’s office near his home was flooded with calls from well-wishers.

“We’ve had tremendous outpouring of support, from your average person to leading heads of state,” said Johnson. “We’ve had calls nonstop.”