Illnesses of Ariel Sharon
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The Illnesses of Ariel Sharon are a series of medical problems that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has experienced, especially coming to the fore in late 2005 and early 2006 when he suffered two strokes, the latter quite severe.
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[edit] Obesity
The actual weight of Ariel Sharon had long been the subject of speculation. It was revealed after his first stroke in December 2005, that he weighed 118 kg (18 stone 8 lb or 260 lb) at the time, making him morbidly obese, and had subsequently lost a number of pounds. Sharon often joked about his own weight; in October 2004 when asked why he did not wear a ballistic vest despite frequent death threats, Sharon smiled and replied, "There are none that fit my size". [1] While this obesity in itself would not necessarily lead to a stroke, the associated conditions, such as high cholesterol, could.
[edit] Stroke of December 2005
On December 18, 2005 Sharon was sent to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital after suffering a mild stroke, specifically a relatively unusual type of stroke called a paradoxical embolism, in which a clot from the venous circulation crosses over into the arterial circulation through a hole between the right and left atrium called an atrial septal defect (or a patent foramen ovale) and goes to the brain, causing a transient speech and motor disturbance.
On his way to the hospital he lost consciousness but regained it shortly thereafter. He reportedly wanted to leave the hospital the evening after his arrival but the hospital wanted him to stay another day. He spent two days in the hospital and was to have had the small hole in his heart repaired by a cardiac catheterization procedure in early January.
[edit] Stroke of January 2006
On January 4, 2006, in the evening before his designate catheterization, Sharon suffered a second, far more serious stroke. A "massive cerebral hemorrhage" led to bleeding in his brain which doctors eventually brought under control the following morning after performing two separate operations, lasting 14 and 6 hours. Sharon was placed on a ventilator and some reports suggested that he was suffering from paralysis in his lower body, while others said he was still fighting for his life. He was placed in an induced coma and his Prime Ministerial duties were handed over to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.
On Friday, January 6, Israeli media reported that Sharon was brought back into the operating theatre after doctors reviewed the results of a brain scan. Hospital officials have declined thus far to comment on these reports. Instead they informed the reporters gathered outside, that Sharon's blood pressure, pulse and intracranial pressure had remained stable overnight. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director of Hadassah Hospital, described this as "a positive sign".
As of January 9, Sharon was breathing on his own and had responded to pain stimuli on his right side; however, he has not regained consciousness. Doctors have stated that they expect the process of determining the degree of physical and mental impairment that has occurred could take some time to complete.
[edit] Sharon diagnosed with brain disease
On January 9, Haaretz reported that while performing tests on Sharon while treating his second stroke, doctors had discovered he was suffering from undiagnosed cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), a brain disorder which, in conjunction with blood thinners prescribed after his first stroke, greatly increased his risk of cerebral hemorrhage. Although some have insinuated that this news represents a failure on Hadassah's part to provide adequate care for Sharon, CAA can be very difficult to accurately diagnose, and is often only discovered after an individual suffers a brain hemorrhage.
On January 10, newspapers reported that Sharon's CAA had actually been diagnosed following his first stroke in December. This was confirmed by Hadassah's director Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef who commented that "Hadassah physicians were aware of the brain diagnosis, and no new diagnosis has been made during the current hospitalization." Aside from an anonymous Hadassah source quoted by Haaretz characterizing the move as a "screw up", none of Sharon's medical providers have given any explanation over the decision to give Sharon blood thinners in light of the earlier knowledge about his brain condition.
By January 25, Sharon had shown response to pain stimulus, but had shown no signs of awaking from his coma despite having been off sedatives for more than a week. The Israeli daily Haaretz quoted experts describing Sharon's condition as a vegetative state, saying he could still wake up, but it might take weeks or months. [2]
[edit] Emergency surgery
On February 11 2006, after a stroke, Ariel Sharon underwent emergency surgery due to serious damage to the digestive system after a CT scan. Doctors believe a small blood clot had caused the damage, which surgeons attempted to find and remove. Hassadah spokeswoman Yael Bossom-Levy described Sharon's condition as critical, with his life in danger. Surgeons have reportedly removed 50 centimetres of Sharon's intestines. [3]
[edit] Incapacitation
On 11 April 2006, the Israeli Cabinet deemed that Sharon was incapacitated, with the declaration taking effect on 14 April, formally ending Sharon's term as Prime Minister, and making Ehud Olmert the country's new "interim" Prime Minister. Sharon's replacement had to be named within 100 days of him becoming incapacitated. This was due to expire on 14 April, but was brought forward due to the Jewish festival of Passover. [4] A provision was made that should Sharon's condition improve between April 11 and April 14 the declaration would not take effect. On 6 November 2006, Sharon was moved out of intensive care after being treated for a heart infection. He is back in the respiratory ward[5].
[edit] Reaction
[edit] Israel
Many Israelis, even Sharon's political opponents, were stunned by the news and immediately began sending him good wishes and prayers. Both Chief rabbis of Israel instructed the public to pray for the Prime Minister's health and recovery.
It was also reported that small groups of right-wing Religious Zionists, largely affiliated with the Kach movement, celebrated the news of Sharon's illness with singing and dancing on January 4 and 5. Several took "personal credit" for the stroke, linking it to a death curse known as Pulsa diNura that they orchestrated in late July 2005, ahead of the Gaza disengagement. Among the celebrants was aspiring politician Baruch Marzel, who attended a party shortly after Sharon's hospitalization to celebrate "the annulment of evil decrees against the people of Israel.". Marzel commented that, "Sharon uprooted graves and destroyed homes and I have no intention to pray for him." [6]
Although these groups were a distinct minority, echoes of resentment and hostility against Sharon by members of the larger Religious Zionist population could also be seen in some rabbis' public refusal to pray for Sharon, such as Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief rabbi of Tzfat and son of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. The Jerusalem Post reported that after being asked repeatedly, Eliyahu told several people, "that one should not pray for Sharon's demise, but at the same time it was forbidden to be [dis]ingenuous in prayer". [7]
Israeli Arabs also expressed mixed reactions. The head of Israel’s Islamic Movement’s southern branch, Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, compared him with former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: "I speak of Sharon as I spoke of Rabin. The day Rabin was assassinated I felt that a window of opportunities was closed, and I feel the same at the moment. Sharon will be remembered as someone who reached a historical peak." Darwish's comments were seen as typical of many moderates in the Arab sector, who had been highly distrustful and critical of Sharon due to his military career and most of his political career prior to his implementation of the Gaza Disengagement, but softened their stance following the withdrawal, and had been cautiously optimistic in seeing what Sharon's future moves would be. Talal al-Kirnawi, the mayor of Rahat, a Bedouin settlement in the Negev, noted: "If you would have asked me to vote for Sharon prior to 2001, I would have favored to cut my hand. However in these elections I proudly called on everyone to vote for him... Sharon is the prime minister for all, and I, as well as many other Arabs, like him very much. We pinned our hopes that he will lead us to peace, and we are worried like everyone else in Israel."
Other Israeli Arabs, more critical of Sharon's past, pointed out a distinction between praying for someone's health and supporting their political future that some saw as reminiscient of some members of the Religious Zionist camp. Sheikh Kamal Khatib, the deputy head of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, stated: "We do not wish bad things for any man, yet for someone who caused so much evil to his people, we are not crying and do not want him to return to his serve as prime minister."[8] On January 8, a list detailing "Sharon's crimes" was posted on the website of Hadash, a far-left Israeli Arab political party. [9]
[edit] The Middle East
The reaction among Palestinian people has been mixed. Hamas has said that the Middle East would be better off without Sharon, a view echoed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, whose leader, Ahmed Jibril told the Associated Press: "[w]e say it frankly that God is great and is able to exact revenge on this butcher. ... We thank God for this gift he presented to us on this new year". [10] Islamic Jihad leader Anwar Abu Taha was quoted as saying "We are not sorry about his health and let him go to hell whether he lives or dies..."
However, other Palestinians have spoken positively of Sharon. According to Haaretz, a Palestinian commentator on the Al-Arabiya television network referred to Sharon as "the first Israeli leader who stopped claiming Israel had a right to all of the Palestinians' land", a reference to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. Ghazi al-Saadi, head of the Amman-based Palestinian Research Center said that "a live Sharon is better for the Palestinians now, despite all the crimes he has committed against us."
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said that "On a purely humanitarian level we feel sorry for Mr. Sharon", and he and other Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas publicly expressed concern over the effect Sharon's illness would have on the peace process.
According to the Iranian Students' News Agency, on January 6, controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to Shiite clerics in the city of Qom and told them he was hoping for Sharon's death. The United States quickly condemned Ahmadinejad's comment as "hateful and disgusting" and U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Ahmadinejad's remarks "part of a continuing stream of hateful invective that has come from this president."
Haaretz also reported that "[r]epresentatives from the offices of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II contacted Sharon's aides to express their concern over the prime minister's condition and their wishes for his recovery."
[edit] The United States
U.S. President George W. Bush issued a statement saying he shared the concerns of the Israeli people "and we are praying for his recovery."
The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. reported that they had received thousands of messages from well-wishers from all over the United States in the days following the stroke.
However, American televangelist Pat Robertson said on the January 5 edition of his show, The 700 Club, that God was punishing Sharon for dividing Israel. He also suggested that former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 for the same reason. [11] "He was dividing God's land, and I would say, 'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the European Union, the United Nations or the United States of America,'" Robertson told his audience.
Israelis and the Anti-Defamation League condemned Robertson's comments, as did his fellow Christian leaders as well as American government officials, chief among them President Bush, and several days later Israeli officials announced that Robertson would be banned from involvement in a project to build a Christian tourist attraction and pilgrimage site near the Sea of Galilee known as the Christian Heritage Center. The plan had called for Israel leasing 35 acres of land to a group of evangelicals (including Robertson) for free to create several tourist attractions and pilgrimage sites in exchange for the evangelicals raising 50 million dollars in funding. A spokesman for the Tourism Ministry commented, "We cannot accept these statements, and we will not sign any contracts with Mr. Robertson." He added that the decision would not apply to all members of the evangelical community: "We want to see who in the group supports his (Robertson's) statements. Those who support the statements cannot do business with us. Those that publicly support Ariel Sharon's recovery ... are welcome to do business with us."
Robertson had a letter of apology hand-delivered to the Sharon family, though this has not affected Israeli policy vis-à-vis their relationship with him.
[edit] Notes
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