NY Times article:
"Though President Bush has had episodes of mild vertigo in
recent
weeks, they have not interfered with his work, and he is in excellent
health, the White House said yesterday in releasing findings from his
annual medical checkup.
The bouts of unsteadiness, which were reported as having improved,
began after Mr. Bush had a viral infection in June at the Group of 8
meeting in Germany, the White House said. Such dizziness often follows
viral infections, usually of the upper respiratory tract, and can last
a few weeks. The symptoms may be continuous or intermittent.
Mr. Bush has sinusitis and has recovered from serous otitis media, an
ear infection, in the last few days, his doctors said. The medical
report said Mr. Bush, 61, was treated last August for a skin rash over
his left shin attributed to Lyme disease.
The White House did not disclose the diagnosis last August because
Lyme disease had not interfered with Mr. Bush's duties, as when he
temporarily turned over the powers of the presidency to Vice President
Dick Cheney when he had a colonoscopy in July. Mr. Bush's doctors
described him as "fit for duty," a standard military phrase.
Scott M. Stanzel, a White House spokesman, likened Mr. Bush's episodes
of imbalance to the feeling that can occur in someone who has just
gotten off a boat.
"The president goes for lengthy bike rides on narrow trails in the
woods and does not have any problems with his balance," Mr. Stanzel said.
Mr. Bush rearranged his schedule at the Group of 8 meeting because he
had a head cold and was not feeling well. The periods of unsteadiness
began after that, Mr. Stanzel said.
The doctors attributed the unsteadiness to mild vestibular neuronitis
in the president's left ear. The serous otitis media was in the right
ear and was first detected last Friday, but has since cleared up. The
sinusitis involved the right maxillary sinus.
The findings are consistent with viral illnesses that can be followed
by periods of unsteadiness for several weeks, said Dr. Michael G.
Stewart, the chief of ear, nose and throat medicine at
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. Untreated Lyme disease
can lead to nerve damage, often involving the eighth cranial nerve,
the same one affected by vestibular neuronitis. But Mr. Bush's doctors
said they did not believe the Lyme infection was linked to his
vestibular neuronitis because the skin lesion had not recurred.
The White House doctors evaluated Mr. Bush for Meniere's disease,
another inner ear ailment that can produce vertigo, hearing loss and
ringing in the ears. But the doctors ruled out Meniere's disease
because Mr. Bush did not have some key signs and symptoms, the White
House official said without disclosing what they were.
Dr. Richard J. Tubb, physician to the president, and Dr. Kenneth
Cooper of Dallas oversaw 11 other doctors who examined Mr. Bush in
sessions starting July 17.
Mr. Bush weighed 192 pounds, 4 pounds less than last year, a change he
attributed to "less birthday cake."