( CNN ) -- Former first lady Barbara Bush has been hospitalized in Houston , Texas , for treatment of a `` respiratory-related issue , '' a family spokesman said Tuesday . Bush , 88 , was admitted Monday at Methodist Hospital , spokesman Jim McGrath said in a written statement . `` She is in great spirits , has already received visits from her husband and family , and is receiving fantastic care , '' the statement said . `` Updates will be issued when warranted . '' CNN was first alerted to Bush 's hospitalization by tweets from affiliate KPRC . Her husband , George H.W . Bush , was the 41st President of the United States . He also served as vice president for two terms under President Ronald Reagan . In her role as first lady , she championed the cause of literacy . She formed the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in 1989 . That was the same year that she acknowledged she had been diagnosed in 1988 with Graves ' disease , an autoimmune disease that commonly affects the thyroid . In 2010 , she was hospitalized for what doctors at the time described as a recurrence of Graves ' disease . Bush underwent heart surgery in 2009 after doctors found hardening in one part of her aorta . In 2008 , she was hospitalized after suffering abdominal pain . She underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer . Fast Facts : Barbara Bush . Ticker coverage : Barbara Bush . CNN 's Steve Brusk contributed to this report .
NEW : Barbara Bush acknowledged in 1989 she had been diagnosed with Graves ' disease . Bush , 88 , was admitted to the hospital Monday , a hospital spokesman said . ` ` She is in great spirits , '' the spokesman said . The former first lady was treated in 2008 , 2009 and 2010 for various ailments .