Health and Medical History of President

Ronald Reagan

"Apparently, in spite of the rather stark poverty of his family, Reagan's childhood was almost free of illness" 2a.

As a child, Reagan would have to sit in the front row in class to see, which embarassed him. In sports, Reagan sometimes got hit in the head with the ball he could not see. It was only at age 9 or 10 that a visiting nurse made the diagnosis. Reagan later said that when he got glasses, he was surprised to discover that trees had leaves and that butterflies existed -- neither of which he had ever been able to see 3.

Later in life, Reagan wore contact lenses. When delivering a speech he would remove one lens so he could read his notes and leave one lens in so he could see the audience. Thus, for those around Reagan it was common practice to see him re-inserting a contact lens after speaking 3.

Another reference 8 says Dr. T. Burton Smith performed a trans-urethral prostatectomy on Reagan in 1967, presumably because of his history of "well-documented benign prostatic hypertrophy and several episodes of prostatitis." Thus, it is unclear if Reagan had one or two urological operations in the 1960s. (Probably one.)

Quotes from the primary 5 of his six 7 physicians include: (1) He is in excellent health. He just underwent a strenuous campaign and had no problems whatsoever. His resistance to colds was remarkable. (2) He exercises every day with a wheel device and rides horseback at his ranch whenever he can. ... It's a single small wheel -- such as you might see on a kid's wagon -- to which two handles are attached. (3) I think he is quite able to handle stress. ... He doesn't take vacations very frequently. (4) I know he eats moderately, and we've told him he should avoid excessive amounts of animal fats and carbohydrates. (5) The standard treadmill tests [have shown] no evidence whatsoever of underlying coronary artery disease. We have also found no evidence of any neurological impairments. (6) When I have done different physical examinations on him, ... he's totally relaxed and undemanding. He goes through those tests in a place that is especially set up for him and where he could pull rank but he doesn't. ... He just accepts the fact that we're doing all these tests. He doesn't ask many questions. (7) [The article also included comments about conditions noted elsewhere on this web page.]

After entering Reagan's body, the bullet ricocheted off his left-sided seventh rib. By now the bullet was deformed into a dime-shaped mass, and when it entered Reagan's left lung, it did considerable damage to the lung tissue. The lung began bleeding, and collapsed. The bullet lodged about one inch from the heart. To see the full chronology of events, click here: MORE

The first-line treatment for a collapsed lung is a chest tube -- a plastic tube that is inserted through the skin, between the ribs, and into the chest cavity where the lungs sit. This is not a difficult procedure, and medical students are often allowed to insert a chest tube (under supervision) after having seen just once how to properly do it. Dr. Zebra was told that a medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine, doing a rotation in the emergency room, had earlier that day seen a chest tube inserted. Furthermore, the resident supervising the student told him, "OK, you get to put in the chest tube on the next case that comes in." Shortly thereafter, an ashen Reagan walked through the door and collapsed. The resident immediately looked at the student and said: "No!" 11.

It has been noted that Reagan's wound was, at the outset, "much more life-threatening than that of Garfield or McKinley, who would both have almost certainly survived" had modern surgical care been available to them 2e.

Throughout the episode, the President's staff was, in the words of Reagan's physician, Dr. Daniel Ruge, "anxious to portray the president as being well. ... But nobody is very well after being shot, and having had an anesthetic, and having lost a lot of blood and having it replaced" 10b. (Reagan lost over half of all the blood in his body 10c.) Ruge felt that Reagan did not recover completely until October, i.e. 6-7 months after the shooting 10b.

Former aide Michael Deaver says Reagan became more stubborn after the shooting. Reagan believed that he was "chosen" for his role by a higher power, and that the shooting was a reminder of this. He therefore decided to more closely follow his own instincts 3.

The answer comes from Gerald Ford's observation that "Ronnie doesn't dye his hair, he's just prematurely orange," referring to the fact that "Orange on a middle-aged man means he's been playing unsupervised among the Clairol" 12.

Although Nancy Reagan apparently preferred to delay surgery until the following week on the advice of her astrologer, Reagan preferred to have the surgery the next day -- to avoid having to repeat the colonic preparation 10e.

The operation lasted 2 hours and 53 minutes. The right-sided portion of Reagan's colon was removed -- about 2 feet of length. Exploration of other abdominal structures found no spread of the cancer. The tumor was ultimately classified as a "Duke's B," meaning it had invaded the muscle of the colon, but was confined to the bowel wall 10f Post-operatively, one of the surgeons remarked about the then-74-year-old President: "This man has the insides of a forty year old" 2g. Reagan left the hospital on July 20 13.

As a result of the surgery, Reagan transferred Presidential power to Vice President Bush for 7 hours and 50 minutes MORE 10g. It is often written that Reagan invoked section 3 of the 25th Amendment to make this transfer, but he did not explicitly invoke the Amendment 10h.

Another basal cell carcinoma was removed from his neck in 1995 4.

"The Cold War began to end when two elderly gentlemen discovered that they shared a common difficulty with their bladders." Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko was at the White House. Reagan was supposed to raise one crucial, secret issue when the two were alone. Security people watched Reagan and Gromyko alone in the Oval Office, nodding in conversation. Afterwards, US State Department people asked the Soviets for their reaction to the secret issue. The Soviets looked blank. What secret issue? "Reagan, 73, had asked Gromyko, 75, only if he would like to use the private Presidential lavatory. Indeed Gromyko would. Very much. He went first. Reagan went second. They washed their hands and, much relieved, the two old fellows strolled in to lunch. Arms control was forgotten, but a certain rapport had been forged among the faucets." 16a

Comment: It is unclear how much brain power is needed to be a successful chief executive. This is certainly true in large corporations, as Dr. Zebra heard many times during his medical training, from professors who had taken care of CEOs who were demented, yet still working.

Thus, Gerald Ford's assessment is relevant: "He was not what I would [call] a technically competent president. You know, his knowledge of the budget, his knowledge of foreign policy -- it was not up to the standards of either Democrat or Republican presidents. But he had a helluva flair.... So I praise his assets, but I have reservations about his technical ability" 17a.

Reagan's mother was "senile" for "a few years" before she died of atherosclerotic disease at age 80 7.

By contrast, as President, in his 70s, "He forgot the names of Cabinet officers, trusted aides and visiting dignitaries. In Brazil, he toasted the people of Bolivia" 1. A friend tells Dr. Zebra of a film clip in which Reagan, as President, is asked a question, only to look completely blank until the camera audio picks up his wife Nancy whispering an evasive answer ("We're doing all that we can") into Reagan's ear, which he then speaks.

In 1993 Reagan became increasingly forgetful. Alzheimer disease was diagnosed during his annual visit to the Mayo Clinic in 1994. His condition was announced to the public in a carefully worded letter to the American people on Nov. 5, 1994 1 MORE

According to Gerald Ford, Reagan was stll able to write a letter the week of the public announcement, but by by 1995 he did not recognize people and a 24-hour nurse for him was being sought 17b. Ford also said that he visited Reagan in Century City (Reagan's office) in January 1999, but Reagan did not recognize him at all, despite Ford's best efforts 17c. Comment: The 1995 and 1999 accounts seem to be at odds over the progression of the disease.

There is an interesting photograph of Reagan, taken in 1996, that shows a visible sign of his Alzheimer disease MORE . He is shown standing with a model of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, a ship named in his honor, along with his wife and the CEO of the company building the ship. Reagan's necktie peeks out below the button of his suit coat. Reagan was extremely careful with his appearance all his life -- as an actor and as a President who wore $1000 suits -- so this tiny slip is actually significant, as a sign of inattention caused by his disease. (For a case in which this sign was actually responsible for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease in a business executive, see 18a.)

Was Reagan symptomatic while in office? There was speculation about his mental function as early as 1987, just after he underwent his third major operation while in office (prostate). In response, Reagan held a press conference on March 19, 1987 in which he performed extremely well in front of a hostile press 15a.

Gerald Ford visited Reagan when the disease was well advanced. "He barely recognized me. . . I tried to bring up things that would refresh his memory, but he was not the Ronald Reagan that I [had known]" 17d.

Comment: Pneumonia is a frequent complication of Alzheimer disease. Reflexes which normally prevent aspiration of mouth contents into the lungs may be lost or severely diminished in Alzheimer disease. The lungs are normally sterile, so this introduction of infectious agents into the lungs can lead to pneumonia. Aspiration pneumonia can be difficult to treat.