Reagan Found Fit in Annual Physical Exam

WASHINGTON —  President Reagan, described by his doctors as firm and fit at 74 years of age, underwent an annual physical examination Friday, including a reassessment of a polyp partially removed from his colon last year.

Reagan flew by helicopter to Bethesda Naval Hospital in suburban Maryland for a battery of tests and examinations coordinated by Dr. Burton Smith, the White House physician.

Presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said the White House would withhold any comment on the exam until all test results have been analyzed. He indicated the report would not come until sometime next week.

After Reagan’s last physical exam about nine months ago, Capt. Walter Karney, chief of internal medicine at Bethesda, pronounced the President to be “a mentally alert, robust man who appears younger than his stated age.”

During that evaluation, doctors located an inflammatory fibroid polyp 40 centimeters into his colon. The growth was partially removed and and a biopsy conducted. The polyp was judged to be benign and doctors said no further treatment was necessary.

Otherwise, the cardiovascular, urological and hematologic test results last year all proved normal.

Reagan’s age and health became a minor issue last fall, just one month before his landslide reelection victory. At that time, the White House reissued the detailed laboratory results of his May 18 physical.

Reagan shows no signs of lingering physical aftereffects from the chest wound he suffered in an assassination attempt just two months into his first term. He works out regularly in a makeshift gym in the White House and spends time at his California ranch chopping wood and tending to outdoor chores.