Doctor Terms Bush Active, Healthy

The personal physician of Vice President George Bush, in a letter released to reporters Friday, described his patient as an “unusually active and healthy man” troubled only by a hearing loss and a mildly enlarged prostate gland.

Bush’s release of medical information was the second such instance in three days. On Tuesday, at the request of reporters, he made public the answers to medical questions he had been asked by the Detroit News. Friday, he released a letter by Dr. Rodney W. Savage, his White House doctor, and results of a physical exam in May, 1988.

As had Bush’s previously released answers, Savage reported that Bush suffers from mild arthritis of the hips and knees, an allergy to bee stings and in 1960 suffered a duodenal ulcer that has since healed. A small skin cancer was removed in May, 1986, and has not recurred.

Savage said Bush’s hearing loss, which he described as “stable (and) moderate,” probably resulted from the vice president’s exposure to loud engine noise while a World War II Navy pilot. Bush does not require a hearing aid.

The doctor said Bush’s prostate condition was normal for a man of his age, 64, and no surgery is expected. The vice president, Savage added, has no signs of heart disease, malignancy, pulmonary disease or neurological disorders.