A presidential tumor

I hope everyone has had a great holiday season. As the presidential campaign is gaining more steam, it is interesting to point out that pheo is a very presidential tumor.

President Dwight Eisenhower had severe, labile hypertension and multiple heart attacks and strokes. He died of congestive heart failure in 1969. Autopsy unexpectedly identified a 1.5-cm left adrenal pheo. Some notable physicians believe that the president’s pheo might have even contributed to his heart attack in 1955. The president had one of the best cardiologists (Dr. Paul Dudley White) as his personal physician and pheo was already well known as a cause of hypertension in the 1950’s. One may wonder why pheo was not thought of by the president’s medical team. Having seen quite a few patients with small pheos, I actually do not think the president’s pheo was clinically significant. Had the pheo been found and resected before his death, the president’s clinical course would not have been much different.

Steven Kubby sought to become the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president in 2008. Mr. Kubby is well known for his support of medical marijuana use. He has malignant pheo. He also had one of the best cardiologists (Dr. Vincent DeQuattro) as his doctor. Mr. Kubby received conventional treatment for malignant pheo, then he found marijuana. He claimed that marijuana solely controls his pheo symptoms and tumor growth. There is no medical literature on marijuana and pheo. Although marijuana can be used to increase quality of life in patients with severe malignant pheo, I am not aware of any mainstream doctors who prescribe it as the only treatment of malignant pheo.

All the information about the above two patients with pheo was gathered from public sources available to all.

Happy New Year!

Dr. Pheo