American Notes The President

The statistics would do a young athlete proud. Blood pressure: 130 over 74. Pulse rate: 57. Weight: 184 lbs., 0 pounds above/below that recommended for a 6-ft. 1-in. male. Yet they belong to a certain 74-year-old whose Oval Office job is mostly sedentary. Ronald Reagan's "overall physical and mental condition is excellent," says Navy Captain Walter Karney, the internist who headed up the team of doctors that administered the examination at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. Reagan's blood pressure this year is even lower than it was last year. <

One problem, apparently minor, blemished the perfect report. The doctors found, as they did last year, a noncancerous "inflammatory pseudopolyp" in the President's intestine. This condition may be related to Reagan's diverticulitis, a disorder common to older people that causes pouches to develop in the intestinal walls. This may also be responsible for the blood found in two stool samples. On the advice of his doctors, the President has gone on a high-fiber diet before further tests. Because red meat can cause a positive test for blood in the stool, Reagan will temporarily be eating fewer of the rare steaks he enjoys now and then.