US: The health of former US president Mr Ronald Reagan, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is steadily slipping, according to a US media report quoting friends and former associates.
Sources told the New York Daily News that the mental awareness and physical vigour of the 91-year-old Reagan, the 40th US president, had deteriorated sharply in recent months.
"He no longer knows who Nancy is," the paper quoted a source, referring to Mr Reagan's wife of 50 years. "Some days he seems to recognise her as someone who's familiar, but most of the time she's just a blank to him," the source said.
Until recently, according to the daily, the ex-president's physical condition had held steady.
"Both his physical and his mental problems have gotten worse," a family friend said.
In a statement of support for actor Charlton Heston, who on Friday announced he was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's, Mrs Reagan hinted at the demands the disease had put on her family.
"Our family knows all too well the cruelty of this disease, and we pray that God will give the Heston family, especially (Mr Heston's wife) Lydia . . . the strength to face each day that lies ahead," she said.