Judging
by photos and the FBI`s physical records, Osama bin Ladencould be a
candidate for the diagnosis. He is aforesaid to be between 6 foot 4inches
and 6 ft 6, which is apparently unusual for his family. He isthin,
bony and has little muscle; he weighs only 160 pounds. And he usesa
cane - possibly the event of connective tissue or back problems.
Other data near the leader of al-Qaida suggests he may get a
heart condition. His facial structure also resembles that of mass with
Marfan.
"He is Marfanoid," says Dr. Richard
Devereux, a clinician whotreats patients with the malady at the Weill
Cornell Medical Center inNew York. "He seems to make long fingers and
long arms. His headappears to be extended and his face narrow _
It`s certainlyconceivable that he has the Marfan syndrome and could be
evaluated forit."
Though people consume long
speculated about bin Laden havingMarfan, federal officials won`t
answer questions about his health. "Wedon`t discuss the medical
conditions of our enemy commanders," says Maj.Jay Steuck, a Defense
Department spokesman. And a Central IntelligenceAgency spokesman says,
"We don`t do unclassified medical summaries."
***
Yossef
Bodansky, staff director of the House Task Force on Terrorism,told
the New York Post: "We are getting a lot of reports and rumors. Byall
accounts, bin Laden is not a respectable man and is below a lot ofstress."
David K. Schenker, a research associate at the
WashingtonInstitute for Near East Policy, agrees that bin Laden`s size
is atypicalfor his surroundings. "I lived in the Middle East, and I
never ran intoanyone that tall," he says.
***
Should
bin Laden have Marfan syndrome, the stress ofcave-hopping and trying
to outrun Allied cruise missiles could provedeadly. "People with the
disease are told not to take in heavyexercise," says Dr. Darwin
Prockop, director of the Center for GeneTherapy at Tulane University.
"If Osama bin Laden has Marfan, he is indanger of sudden break of
the aorta and sudden death."
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