The Nation - News from Aug. 23, 1989

First Lady Barbara Bush was ordered onto new medication after her doctors concluded that a bothersome eye condition caused by Graves disease has not improved, her spokeswoman said. However, Press Secretary Anna Maria Perez said the specialists who examined Mrs. Bush at Walter Reed Army Hospital agreed that the disease’s most serious threat--an attack on her thyroid gland--has been controlled. Mrs. Bush, 64, interrupted her Maine vacation with the President to have the condition re-evaluated because of continuing problems with the irritating side effects involving her eyesight, including tearing and occasional double vision. Her doctors prescribed prednisone, a mild form of cortisone, Perez said.