Reagan Flashes High Sign After 3-Hr. Physical Exam

President Reagan underwent three hours of tests for his annual physical examination today, then flashed a thumbs up signal and said, “Nope,” when asked if he had any health problems.

Reagan, previously described by doctors as firm and fit at 74, spent the afternoon at Bethesda Naval Hospital for the exam coordinated by White House physician Dr. Burton Smith, including a reassessment of a polyp partially removed from his colon last year.

Reagan emerged, without his tie, and gave the universal thumbs up signal that all was well. Reporters shouted, “Any problems?” and he replied, “Nope.”

Reagan, accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and their dog, Lucky, then flew to Camp David, Md., for the weekend.

Earlier, White House spokesman Larry Speakes, who called his boss “healthy as a horse,” said the medical evaluation would include cardiovascular and eye examinations, as well as a reassessment of the 4-millimeter polyp discovered last May 18.

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 10 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 a biopsy conducted. The polyp was judged to be benign and doctors said no further treatment was necessary.

Otherwise, the cardiovascular, urological and hematological 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.