April 16, 2018 -- Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush is in "failing health" and won't seek further medical treatment, a family spokesman said Sunday.

"Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care," spokesman Jim McGrath in a news release, the Associated Press reported.

He did not provide any details about Mrs. Bush's health problems.

She's received treatment for decades for the thyroid condition Graves' disease, had heart surgery in 2009, and had surgery in 2008 for a perforated ulcer, the AP reported.

Mrs. Bush is at home in Houston.</s>Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health, a source close to the Bush family tells CNN.

The source said she is being cared for at her home in Houston and has decided she does not want to go back into the hospital. She has been on oxygen for some time.

Her husband, former President George H. W. Bush is with her, as are daughter Doro and sons Marvin and Neil. Her other sons, former President George W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush, have been in and out visiting her the past week.

Bush’s office released a statement, confirming, after a “recent series of hospitalizations,” she has decided against seeking additional medical help and will instead focus on “comfort care.”

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” the statement said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

At 92 years old, Bush has been suffering for some time and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year while battling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure.

Most recently, she was admitted on Good Friday to Houston Methodist Hospital suffering from shortness of breath. She was doing better, and had been released earlier this past week but started to get worse in the past couple of days.

People are generally aware Bush Sr. suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease that has him in a wheelchair, however most were not aware of the former first lady’s health problems, which started about two years ago.

The Bushes have been married for 73 years. The former president wrote in his book, ‘All the Best, George Bush,’ “We are two people but we are one.”

Bush is the only living wife of one former president and the mother of another former president.

She has dedicated her life post-White House to the cause of literacy, and she and her husband have raised more than a billion dollars for charity since they left office.</s>A family spokesman said Sunday that the former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment.

FILE - In a Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, file photo, former first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient’s question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment, a Bush family spokesman said.

“Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care,” spokesman Jim McGrath said Sunday in a news release.

McGrath did not elaborate as to the nature of Bush’s health problems. She has been treated for decades for Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid condition, had heart surgery in 2009 for a severe narrowing of her main heart valve and was hospitalized a year before that for surgery on a perforated ulcer.

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” McGrath said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

Bush, who is at home in Houston, is one of only two first ladies who was also the mother of a president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the nation’s second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Bush married George H.W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1945. They had six children and have been married longer than any presidential couple in American history.

Eight years after she and her husband left the White House, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as the 43rd president.

President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement Sunday evening that “the President’s and first lady’s prayers are with all of the Bush family during this time.”

Bush is known for her white hair and her triple-strand fake pearl necklace.

Her brown hair began to grey in the 1950s, while her 3-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukemia and eventually died in October 1953. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her and credited the colour to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.”

Her pearls sparked a national fashion trend when she wore them to her husband’s inauguration in 1989. The pearls became synonymous with Bush, who later said she selected them to hide the wrinkles in her neck. The candid admission only bolstered her common sense and down-to-earth public image.

Her 93-year-old husband, the nation’s 41st president who served from 1989 to 1993, also has had health issues in recent years. In April 2017, he was hospitalized in Houston for two weeks for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was hospitalized months earlier, also for pneumonia. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

Before being president, he served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice-president.

Barbara Pierce Bush was born June 8, 1925, in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. She and George H.W. Bush married when she was 19 and while he was a young naval aviator. After World War II, the Bushes moved to Texas where he went into the oil business.

Along with her memoirs, she’s the author of “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1,500 literacy programs nationwide.

Related: McMaster out, Bolton in as Trump’s national security adviser

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>HOUSTON (CNN) — Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health, a source close to the Bush family tells CNN.

The source said she is being cared for at her home in Houston and has decided she does not want to go back into the hospital. She has been on oxygen for some time.

Her husband, former President George H. W. Bush is with her, as are daughter Doro and sons Marvin and Neil. Her other sons, former President George W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush, have been in and out visiting her the past week.

Bush’s office released a statement, confirming after a “recent series of hospitalizations,” she has decided against seeking additional medical help and will instead focus on “comfort care.”

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others. She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving,” the statement continued.

At 92 years old, Bush has been suffering for some time and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year while battling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure.

Most recently, she was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on Good Friday suffering from shortness of breath. She was doing better and had been released earlier this past week, but started to get worse in the past couple of days.

People are generally aware that Bush Sr. suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease that has him in a wheelchair; however, most were not aware of the former first lady’s health problems, which started about two years ago.

The Bushes have been married for 73 years. The former President wrote in his book, “All the Best, George Bush:” “We are two people but we are one.”

Bush is the only living wife of one former President and the mother of another former President.

She has dedicated her life post-White House life to the cause of literacy, and she and her husband have raised more than a billion dollars for charity since they left office.</s>A family spokesman said Sunday that the former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment.

FILE - In a Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, file photo, former first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient’s question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment, a Bush family spokesman said.

“Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care,” spokesman Jim McGrath said Sunday in a news release.

McGrath did not elaborate as to the nature of Bush’s health problems. She has been treated for decades for Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid condition, had heart surgery in 2009 for a severe narrowing of her main heart valve and was hospitalized a year before that for surgery on a perforated ulcer.

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” McGrath said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

Bush, who is at home in Houston, is one of only two first ladies who was also the mother of a president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the nation’s second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Bush married George H.W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1945. They had six children and have been married longer than any presidential couple in American history.

Eight years after she and her husband left the White House, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as the 43rd president.

President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement Sunday evening that “the President’s and first lady’s prayers are with all of the Bush family during this time.”

Bush is known for her white hair and her triple-strand fake pearl necklace.

Her brown hair began to grey in the 1950s, while her 3-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukemia and eventually died in October 1953. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her and credited the colour to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.”

Her pearls sparked a national fashion trend when she wore them to her husband’s inauguration in 1989. The pearls became synonymous with Bush, who later said she selected them to hide the wrinkles in her neck. The candid admission only bolstered her common sense and down-to-earth public image.

Her 93-year-old husband, the nation’s 41st president who served from 1989 to 1993, also has had health issues in recent years. In April 2017, he was hospitalized in Houston for two weeks for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was hospitalized months earlier, also for pneumonia. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

Before being president, he served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice-president.

Barbara Pierce Bush was born June 8, 1925, in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. She and George H.W. Bush married when she was 19 and while he was a young naval aviator. After World War II, the Bushes moved to Texas where he went into the oil business.

Along with her memoirs, she’s the author of “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1,500 literacy programs nationwide.

Related: McMaster out, Bolton in as Trump’s national security adviser

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>Former First Lady Barbara Bush is in failing health and will no longer seek medical treatment.</s>In a move that is said to be characteristic of her, former first lady Barbara Bush, 92, who has been hospitalized several times recently for a series of medical problems, has decided “after consulting her family and doctors” that she will not seek additional medical treatment and, instead, focus on comfort care at her home in Houston, the Bush family said in a statement released Sunday.

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself—thanks to her abiding faith—but for others,” said the one-paragraph statement released by the office of George H.W. Bush. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

She has been hospitalized multiple times this year in connection with a variety of health challenges, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure, CNN is reporting.

Shortly after the Bush family released its statement, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called on the state to pray for the entire Bush family. “Barbara Bush has a character that is as big, inspiring and iconic as Texas,” Abbott said in a statement. “Cecilia and I ask all Texans to join us in praying for Barbara and the entire Bush family during this time.”

Barbara Bush has been married to George H.W. Bush for 73 years. She is the 37th first lady of the United States and is the mother of former President George W. Bush as well as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in addition to four other children. She is only one of two first ladies in U.S. history who was also the mother of another president. The other first lady was Abigail Adams. Barbara Pierce was born in New York and met her future husband at age 16. The two were married in 1945, while George H.W. Bush was on leave as a Naval officer in World War II.

Shortly after they were married, the two moved to first to Odessa and later to Midland, where George began his career as an oilman. They later moved to Houston, where he began his political career. As her husband’s career began to flourish, Barbara remained family-centric, once saying, “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.”

She was known for her trademark white hair, a trait that was born of tragedy when her brown hair began to gray in the 1950s, while her 3-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukemia and eventually died in October 1953, according to the Associated Press. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her, the Associated Press reported, and credited the color to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.”

She is also known for her sense of humor,once joking that her husband couldn’t keep a job, but that, at least, he wasn’t boring. And of her president son, she once said, “I may be the only mother in America who knows exactly what their child is up to all the time.”</s>A family spokesman said Sunday that the former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment.

FILE - In a Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, file photo, former first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient’s question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment, a Bush family spokesman said.

“Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care,” spokesman Jim McGrath said Sunday in a news release.

McGrath did not elaborate as to the nature of Bush’s health problems. She has been treated for decades for Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid condition, had heart surgery in 2009 for a severe narrowing of her main heart valve and was hospitalized a year before that for surgery on a perforated ulcer.

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” McGrath said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

Bush, who is at home in Houston, is one of only two first ladies who was also the mother of a president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the nation’s second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Bush married George H.W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1945. They had six children and have been married longer than any presidential couple in American history.

Eight years after she and her husband left the White House, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as the 43rd president.

President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement Sunday evening that “the President’s and first lady’s prayers are with all of the Bush family during this time.”

Bush is known for her white hair and her triple-strand fake pearl necklace.

Her brown hair began to grey in the 1950s, while her 3-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukemia and eventually died in October 1953. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her and credited the colour to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.”

Her pearls sparked a national fashion trend when she wore them to her husband’s inauguration in 1989. The pearls became synonymous with Bush, who later said she selected them to hide the wrinkles in her neck. The candid admission only bolstered her common sense and down-to-earth public image.

Her 93-year-old husband, the nation’s 41st president who served from 1989 to 1993, also has had health issues in recent years. In April 2017, he was hospitalized in Houston for two weeks for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was hospitalized months earlier, also for pneumonia. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

Before being president, he served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice-president.

Barbara Pierce Bush was born June 8, 1925, in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. She and George H.W. Bush married when she was 19 and while he was a young naval aviator. After World War II, the Bushes moved to Texas where he went into the oil business.

Along with her memoirs, she’s the author of “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1,500 literacy programs nationwide.

Related: McMaster out, Bolton in as Trump’s national security adviser

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>What is known about former first lady Barbara Bush's health

Former first lady Barbara Bush is receiving "comfort care" at her family's home in Houston after deciding she wanted no further medical treatment for unspecified health problems.

The 92-year-old has suffered from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in recent years, and had surgery in 2009 for severe narrowing of her main heart valve. She also has been treated for decades for a thyroid condition called Graves' disease, and had surgery on a perforated ulcer in 2008.

A family spokesman did not elaborate on whether there were other health problems.

Here is what is known:

People who opt for comfort care receive treatment only for their symptoms, such as shortness of breath or pain, rather than trying to prolong life or cure the underlying health problem, said Tim Simpson, a certified hospice and palliative nurse for almost 28 years

For example, patients having trouble breathing might receive oxygen or steroids; or if they have fluid in their legs because of a bad heart, they might receive diuretics.

"With comfort measures, there are no unnecessary tests except those needed to relieve a patient's symptoms," said Simpson, chief nursing officer at Seasons Hospice in Illinois.

Hospice care has some technical differences. It's for patients who are not expected to live more than six months who sign a waiver officially saying they want only non-life-prolonging treatment of symptoms by a team of caregivers, and it may be covered by Medicare. Comfort care is more of a verbal understanding between doctor and patient, Simpson said.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive lung disease that causes inflamed airways, which become smaller and impede a person's ability to get air out of their lungs, said Dr. Kyle Hogarth, a pulmonologist and associate professor in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Hogarth said because of the damage to the lungs, airways collapse easily, which is why patients have difficulty exhaling.

It's usually a combination of many things, including airway obstruction and emphysema, he said. People who are frequently diagnosed with bronchitis, especially in the winter, might have undiagnosed COPD, he said.

COPD usually is caused by smoking, though it can develop in nonsmokers, especially those exposed to second-hand smoke.

It also can indirectly affect the heart, which must work harder to pump blood through the lungs.

Heart failure is one of the top reasons older people are hospitalized, and a leading cause of death. It develops when the heart muscle weakens over time and can no longer pump effectively, sometimes because of damage from a heart attack. Fluid can back up into the lungs and leave people gasping for breath.

Many people have both heart and lung problems, Hogarth said.</s>A family spokesman said Sunday that the former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment.

FILE - In a Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, file photo, former first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient’s question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment, a Bush family spokesman said.

“Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care,” spokesman Jim McGrath said Sunday in a news release.

McGrath did not elaborate as to the nature of Bush’s health problems. She has been treated for decades for Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid condition, had heart surgery in 2009 for a severe narrowing of her main heart valve and was hospitalized a year before that for surgery on a perforated ulcer.

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” McGrath said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

Bush, who is at home in Houston, is one of only two first ladies who was also the mother of a president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the nation’s second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Bush married George H.W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1945. They had six children and have been married longer than any presidential couple in American history.

Eight years after she and her husband left the White House, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as the 43rd president.

President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement Sunday evening that “the President’s and first lady’s prayers are with all of the Bush family during this time.”

Bush is known for her white hair and her triple-strand fake pearl necklace.

Her brown hair began to grey in the 1950s, while her 3-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukemia and eventually died in October 1953. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her and credited the colour to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.”

Her pearls sparked a national fashion trend when she wore them to her husband’s inauguration in 1989. The pearls became synonymous with Bush, who later said she selected them to hide the wrinkles in her neck. The candid admission only bolstered her common sense and down-to-earth public image.

Her 93-year-old husband, the nation’s 41st president who served from 1989 to 1993, also has had health issues in recent years. In April 2017, he was hospitalized in Houston for two weeks for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was hospitalized months earlier, also for pneumonia. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

Before being president, he served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice-president.

Barbara Pierce Bush was born June 8, 1925, in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. She and George H.W. Bush married when she was 19 and while he was a young naval aviator. After World War II, the Bushes moved to Texas where he went into the oil business.

Along with her memoirs, she’s the author of “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1,500 literacy programs nationwide.

Related: McMaster out, Bolton in as Trump’s national security adviser

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Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush declines further medical treatment for serious ongoing health issues.