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American Morning

What Could Have Caused President's Collapse Last Night?

Aired January 14, 2002 - 07:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, onto the issue of the president's health and his fainting spell. What could have caused the president's collapse last night? And could it indicate a more serious health problem?

CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who is a doctor, joins us now from CNN Center in Atlanta -- good morning. Happy New Year -- I haven't seen you in a little while.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Paula.

ZAHN: Talk to us a little about what would cause the president to faint. And what does the pretzel have to do with anything here?

GUPTA: Right. Well, Paula, it's actually a pretty common problem, something that folks see (ph) that oftentimes scared of something. Sometimes cramping in the intestines can do this. Sometimes violent coughing can do this. We're talking about vasil vagal (ph) response.

The name is not as important, Paula, as what it does. But what it actually is, is a reflex. In this case, possibly brought on by the heavy coughing, can actually stimulate a nerve to stimulate the heart to actually lower the blood pressure, lower the heart rate, and do those sorts of things.

Other possibilities, change in a heart rhythm. That can possible do it. Dehydration could also do that, Paula, and apparently the president was a little sick, feeling a little under the weather over the weekend. That could have led to a little bit of dehydration. That, in combination with the violent coughing episode, possibly surrounding (ph) eating this pretzel, could have actually caused him to faint. A pretty common thing -- we see this a lot in the emergency rooms and hospitals, but oftentimes it's just an isolated event and doesn't come back.

ZAHN: I hope that is the case. Run us through some of the tests that were done on the president to make sure this was nothing more serious than an isolated fainting spell.

GUPTA: Well, one of the first things, Paula, is certainly to make sure that his heart is OK, that he's not having a heart arrhythmia. An EKG would be the test to sort of rule that out. Certainly blood tests to make sure his blood sugar was up-to-speed, that he didn't actually become hypoglycemic. That would be another test. He's going to have to have a few other tests, I'm sure, over the next couple of days. I understand that he's going to be going the doctor this morning probably just to get another check out -- a quick check out to make sure that his heart rate and his blood pressure are up to par.

Again, a pretty isolated event. Just about everybody has some vasil vagal episode in their lifetimes. Whether or not that leads to fainting, not in everybody, but certainly in this case it happened to the president. He did appear to have passed out completely. He did get an abrasion on his left cheek and his lower lip, so it does seem like he actually completely lost consciousness.

ZAHN: We need about a five second answer to this. Is there any hereditary link? We know his father had a fainting spell once on an overseas trip.

GUPTA: That's right. No, there is no hereditary link to this. It is truly related to a reflex within the body. And again, an isolated thing, but no hereditary link.

ZAHN: All right, thanks for making that house call this morning for us.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ZAHN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- see you later on.

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