Ronald Reagan

"Apparently, in spite of the rather stark poverty of his family, Reagan's childhood was almost free of illness" [8a].

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 [10].

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 [10].

Another reference [6] 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 [16] of his six [2] 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!" [20].

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 [8e].

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" [1b]. (Reagan lost over half of all the blood in his body [1c].) Ruge felt that Reagan did not recover completely until October, i.e. 6-7 months after the shooting [1b].

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 [10].

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" [11].

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 [1f]

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 [1g] Post-operatively, one of the surgeons remarked about the then-74-year-old President: "This man has the insides of a forty year old" [8g]. Reagan left the hospital on July 20 [18].

As a result of the surgery, Reagan transferred Presidential power to Vice President Bush for 7 hours and 50 minutes [More] [1h]. 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 [1i].

Another basal cell carcinoma was removed from his neck in 1995 [5].

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" [9]. A friend tells Dr. Zebra of a film clip in which Reagan, as President, is asked a question, only to look completely blank until his wife Nancy whispers an evasive answer in his ear (audible to the camera), which Reagan then speaks.

Recovering from being shot (three months into his presidency), Reagan became disoriented in the intensive care unit. His physicians, therefore, pressed to have him moved to a hospital suite [1j].   Comment: In retrospect, this was probably a sign of Reagan's slipping mentation... yes, Dr. Zebra is aware of the many reasons people get disoriented in an ICU, but let's face it, it does not often happen to 40 year olds. This is especially true given a physician's statement that during Reagan's recovery "He always had a high pain threshold and required only small amounts of pain medication" [6a].

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 [9] [More]

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 [3a].)

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 [12a].

Reagan's mother was "senile" for "a few years" before she died of atherosclerotic disease at age 80 [2].

  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.