Arroyo battles 'anorexia' as well as other diseases, court cases

Detained Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not only battling bone mineral deficiency, hypertension, and hypoparathyroidism, but also bacterial infection in her large intestine and anorexia (loss of appetite) which are more immediate threats to the health of the former President, her doctor revealed over the weekend. "We will be monitoring her, and hopefully she will be able to regain her appetite until we are confident enough in saying that we can remove the IV [intravenous] fluid already," explained Dr. Juliet Cervantes, who is Mrs. Arroyo’s attending physician. When the police went to the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City to take the former Philippine leader's fingerprints and mug shots, she still had an IV-fluid drip stuck in a vein in her arm. On Friday last week, the Pasay Regional Trial Court that had issued on Nov. 18 the warrant for Mrs. Arroyo’s arrest on charges of electoral sabotage. On Monday, the court allowed her to stay at the hospital under police custody while waiting for her doctors to submit a report about her medical condition.

‘Simple’ anorexia vs anorexia nervosa The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) has already declared as “not life-threatening" the diseases Mrs. Arroyo is suffering from, namely hypoparathyrodism and bone mineral deficiency. But anorexia is a different matter altogether and should be monitored closely because after a long period, the PMA points out, a patient could die from malnourishment and starvation due to irreversible damage to vital internal organs. But it is important not to confuse simple anorexia – which can be caused by stress or depression — with the eating disorder known as anorexia nervosa. People with anorexia nervosa, most of whom are young females, develop a strong aversion to food and have a distorted body image persistently thinking that they are "too fat." “Kaya…sya walang ganang kumain, at nagkakaroon sya ng intestinal infection o inpeksyon sa kanyang bituka," explained Dr. Leo Olarte, PMA Manila chapter governor. “Iyon po ay dapat gagamutin sa ngayon at hindi sya fit to travel." Minor operation ‘do-able’ in PHL Last week, authorities thwarted Mrs. Arroyo’s attempt to fly to Singapore to undertake a tetracycline bone biopsy operation. But the PMA has already come up with a list of at least 100 Filipino specialists from the Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism who can all perform that operation in the Philippines. “Hindi ko kailangan ng isang espesyalista nang gumawa ng tetracycline bone biopsy," explained Dr. Olarte, adding that, “Wala pong kahirap-hirap yan, minor operation lang yan." Olarte also expressed the view that it is but proper to put Mrs. Arroyo under temporary hospital arrest so as to closely monitor her health condition. Former President Joseph Estrada is also concerned about the health of the person who replaced him when he was ousted from the Palace in 2001. “I’m praying for the recovery of her health so that she can face all of those accusations against her," he said. — MRT/RSJ, GMA News