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31 May 2008
By Geoffrey Nyarota.
FOR a man of his advanced age President Robert Mugabe remains remarkably active and ostensibly fit.Closer inspection, however, reveals that while he is actively campaigning for his last presidential election of June 27 advanced age appears to have finally caught up with him.
Like the rest of the body, the brain deteriorates with age. At 84 and with 28 years as head of state behind him, Mugabe remains surprisingly in control of his mental faculty, at least during those occasions that he appears on television.
But of late pictures of Mugabe have appeared in the media that reveal a condition that would automatically rule him out as a serious contender for the presidency in a less authoritarian country. In the United States, for instance, presidential candidates are required to pass what is tantamount to a public bill of health.
Such serious concerns have been raised about the advanced age of the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain that his campaign managers were forced to assure the nation that he was still fit not only to campaign but also to assume office as President of the United States of America.
They handed over to the Associated Press 1 173 pages of medical documents spanning the period from 2000 to 2008. This maneuver appears to have effectively put paid, at least in the eyes of Republicans, to any notion that the Arizona senator is not fit to serve as President. At 72 he will become, if elected in November, the oldest first-term President ever elected to serve the United States.
McCain reportedly remains at risk for developing new skin cancers. He undergoes a thorough check by a dermatologist every few months.
“I do not see any worrisome lesions,” Dr. Suzanne Connolly concluded after McCain’s most recent exam, on May 12.
Mugabe was a 12 year-old boy at Kutama School when McCain was born. Unlike his American counterparts, details of whose health make news headlines, the state of Mugabe’s health has been elevated to the status of a state secret closely guarded by him and those who surround him.
Of late, however, the photographic camera has betrayed the President of Zimbabwe and startling evidence of some of his inner secrets has been captured and disseminated widely.
Take, for instance, the excessively swollen condition of his feet and ankles, as revealed in the picture above which was shot on May 29 as he attended a presidential election campaign rally in Shamva, north of Harare. This must be a cause of serious concern to his physician.
My research into the subject of the swelling of feet was fruitful. It revealed that “systemic diseases and conditions are associated with foot and ankle swelling and are characterized by fluid retention or, less commonly, by an increase in thickness of the skin. Diseases of the joints, such as arthritis, can also affect the joints of the ankle and foot, leading to swelling of the involved areas.”
Swelling of the extremities can be an indication of underlying chronic conditions, starting from the less frightening such as deep venous thrombosis (better known as blood clots) to the more severe and life-threatening conditions such as congestive heart failure. A reported recent visit to China by Mugabe can only lead to speculation as to where in this spectrum his health currently lies.
The abnormal buildup of fluid in the ankles, feet, and legs is called peripheral edema, or swelling of the lower extremities. This condition can be painless or painful.
Apparently the painless swelling of the feet and ankles is a common problem, particularly in older people. The condition may affect both legs and may include the calves or even the thighs. Because of the effect of gravity, swelling is particularly noticeable in these locations.
The following are listed as other common causes of foot, leg, and ankle swelling: prolonged standing, long airplane flights or motorcar rides, overweight and increased age. Among women menstrual periods and pregnancy may also cause swelling. Zimbabweans have nick-named their President Vasco da Gama because of his knack for excessive travel, which has taken him to every corner of the world. The imposition of travel sanctions on Mugabe and his colleagues has done nothing to reduce his penchant for travel to distant lands, mostly in the Far East of late.
He has just returned to Harare from a visit to China where he was reported to have undergone a medical check-up ahead of the gruelling election campaign which he launched immediately upon his return.
Surprisingly, starvation or malnutrition may also cause the swelling of feet, medical experts say. It is not conceivable that a Head of State would develop peripheral edema because of starvation while resident in State House, unless there were issues of entirely inappropriate dietary guidelines.
The experts say that swollen legs may, in fact, be a sign of heart failure, kidney failure, or liver failure. In these conditions, there is too much fluid in the body.
Heart failure is a life-threatening condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body. Hypertension or high blood pressure is one of the most common causes of heart failure, a disease which is almost always chronic and becomes more common with advancing age. People who are overweight, have diabetes, smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, or use cocaine are at increased risk for developing heart failure.
Among the most common symptoms of heart failure are weight gain, swelling of feet and ankles and decreased alertness of concentration.
Apart from swollen feet and ankles Mugabe now appears to have another health issue. His voluble but not particularly commonsensical Information Minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, unwittingly let the cat out of the bag about the President’s failing vision. He said Mugabe’s sight had deteriorated so much that he could no longer read the newspapers.
Apparently Mugabe had complained that his effort to keep himself informed about events in Zimbabwe through reading the state-controlled Herald was frustrated by the small size of the print.
Describing the newspaper’s font as “the size of ants”, Mugabe, unbelievably, appealed to the minister to advise the editors of the state newspapers to increase the font size for his benefit. Always eager to please, Ndlovu apparently promptly summoned the editors and duly delivered the President’s message.
“We could not believe it when the minister said the President had told him to ask us to increase the size of the font,” said one of the editors. “We all looked at each other amazed at what he had just said. We could not hold ourselves and openly giggled about it.”
But Ndlovu was not to be easily deterred.
“The President clearly said he could not read stories in The Herald. Once when he wanted to read a story on page two about MDC and Zanu-PF he failed. He called me and said ‘Sikhanyiso what is this?”
The editors respectfully held their ground, pointing out to the Minister that there was nothing they could do about the font size, as it was a worldwide standard and could not be changed.
Notwithstanding his advanced age and deteriorating heath Mugabe appears determined, not only do battle with Movement for Democratic Change president, Morgan Tsvangirai, but to defeat him and manage Zimbabwe’s affairs of State for the next five years.
At 56 Tsvangirai is almost four decades younger than his rival. While no issues have been raised about his health in the United States the campaign of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama was obliged, following the McCain disclosure, to release a one-page letter which declared his health as excellent.
Obama’s greatest problem is that he is a smoker who has quit but relapsed several times. He was reported to be currently trying again to kick the habit.-The Zimbabwe Times.com
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