STORY BY

Shannon Rasp

American presidential history is full of surprising medical facts. Each week until the 2008 election, HealthLeader will focus on the medical histories of a variety of presidents. This week, we will learn more about John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States.

Many historians cite 1960 as the moment television began swaying political opinion. The presidential race between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy was incredibly close, until the two men participated in debates that were broadcast across the nation’s airwaves. Voters saw a sallow, perspiring Nixon, and compared him to the young, charismatic Kennedy. The race was over – voters went with the man they saw as healthier and more vigorous. But appearances are deceiving. In actuality, Kennedy was an extremely sick person – and had been since childhood.

Sick from the start

Kennedy’s health concerns began when he was only 2 years old. He contracted measles, closely followed by a bout with scarlet fever that nearly killed him. Before another year elapsed, whooping cough and diphtheria had ravaged his young body. The constant illnesses left him with a propensity for upper respiratory infections and bronchitis, as well as asthma and allergies. His family often joked that “if a mosquito were to bite Jack (Kennedy), it would certainly die.”

Colitis, appendicitis

In 1930, at age 13, Kennedy began experiencing severe abdominal pain. He was in boarding school at the time, and wrote to his parents that he had fainted during the school’s church services. His parents took him to the famed Mayo Clinic, where he was diagnosed with colitis, an inflammation of the colon and rectum. It causes pain, rectal bleeding, diarrhea, as well as the urgent need to use the restroom. His appendix was removed, and Kennedy was put on a bland diet that he would follow the rest of his life.

Jaundice, urethritis

Two bouts with jaundice in the mid-1930s left him so weak that after spending two months in the hospital he had to quit Princeton University and move to Arizona to recuperate. He recovered in 1936, and moved back to the east coast to attend Harvard University. Kennedy went on to contract urethritis, an infection of the urethra, part of the urinary tract. His bladder and prostate problems even led him to believe he may not be able to father children.

Addison’s disease

Kennedy hid his medical problems (which was normal at the time for politicians) and was elected a congressman. In the fall of 1947, however, while visiting London, he became so ill with weakness, nausea and low blood pressure that the last rites were given to him in the hospital. He was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, an adrenal insufficiency. The adrenal gland makes corticosteroids and other hormones that are used for metabolism, stress responses, and to fight inflammation. The physician who diagnosed him said that he didn’t have even a year to live. Kennedy proved the doctor wrong, but for the rest of his life he was treated daily with corticosteroids in order to survive, as well as a variety of antibiotics.

Last rites...again

The drugs were complicated by pain relievers he was taking. Kennedy had compression fractures in his lower back that had led to early-onset osteoporosis. His back problems were so severe that his brother Robert said, “At least half of the days Jack spent on this earth were days of intense physical pain.” In 1944, he had the first of three back surgeries. In 1954, doctors inserted a plate into his back in order to stabilize his spine. A post-operative urinary tract infection caused Kennedy to lapse into a coma, and again the last rites were performed. The next year, the plate got infected and was removed. By the last part of the decade, Kennedy often couldn’t bend over to put on his own shoes. He had to walk sideways down stairs, and often used crutches in private.

Presidential pharmacy

In 1955, doctors put Kennedy on an intensive drug regimen to keep him functioning – a regimen that would last until he died. By the time he was elected president in 1960, Kennedy was taking almost a dozen medications a day – including heavy hitters like oral and injected cortisone, phenobarbital, testosterone, amphetamines, codeine, Demerol, Methadone and Tuinal, a mixture of two different depressants that allowed him to sleep. In addition, he was injected up to six times a day with Novocain, just so he could function throughout the day.

The drugs affected his appearance, which made Kennedy self-conscious. The steroids caused him to develop the common “moon face” puffiness. Four days before his inauguration, Kennedy saw himself in a mirror and said, “My God, look at that fat face! If I don't lose five pounds this week we might have to call off the inauguration.”

During his 34 months as president of the United States, Kennedy’s health improved somewhat. He often wore a brace which helped his back, and regular medical care was easier to get as a sitting president then it had been as a congressman who was constantly traveling. As president, Kennedy missed only one day of work because of illness. In fact, shortly before leaving on a trip in 1963, Kennedy told friends that he felt better than he had in years. He and his wife then boarded a plane bound for Dallas.