Mother Teresa Suffers Heart Failure, Receives Oxygen

CALCUTTA — Mother Teresa suffered heart failure for the second time in three days today and was being given oxygen from time to time as well as medication to control her condition, her physician said.

“Mother Teresa developed heart problems last night and this morning,” said Dr. Dinamani Banerjee, a member of the medical board looking after the 86-year-old Roman Catholic missionary at Calcutta’s Woodlands Nursing Home.

Banerjee said the Nobel Peace Prize winner had suffered left ventricular heart failure on Saturday night and again this morning, but the problem had been checked with medication.

Mother Teresa was admitted to hospital with an irregular heartbeat early Friday, the third time since August that she had been admitted for emergency care.

“She is more stable than what she was on Thursday night, but recurrence of heart failure needs more investigation and we are not releasing her soon,” Banerjee said, adding that she was being given oxygen from time to time.

Sister Mitra, in charge of the cardiac unit at Woodlands Nursing Home, said Mother Teresa had spoken to nuns from her Missionaries of Charity religious order and written a letter before the new heart problems developed today.