Mother Teresa in Stable Condition at Calcutta Hospital
CALCUTTA, India — Mother Teresa was in stable condition at a Calcutta hospital Saturday and responding well to medication for heart trouble, her doctor said.
The 86-year-old Nobel laureate slept most of the day, said Asim Bardhan, cardiologist at the Woodlands Nursing Home where Mother Teresa was taken Friday.
Doctors have been allowing her to drink fruit juice and eat stew, and they have been administering antibiotics and drugs to stabilize her heartbeat, Bardhan said.
The Roman Catholic nun, complaining of chest pains, was hospitalized for the fourth time this year early Friday.
Mother Teresa has been diagnosed with acute left ventricular heart failure--a failure of one of the four chambers of the heart to properly pump blood, causing an irregular heartbeat and weak blood pressure.
The most common form of heart failure, it often can be managed by medication, exercise and diet.
On Friday, about 150 nuns and volunteers of her order, the Missionaries of Charity, assembled at her home and prayed for her quick recovery.
Mother Teresa was well enough to receive some of them at her hospital bed, and talked to them Friday evening.
Mother Teresa has suffered two heart attacks in recent years and has a pacemaker.
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