MOSCOW Boris Yeltsin has a history of illnesses which have dogged his two terms as Russia's president although until 1995 he always denied any serious health worries. On Sunday, the Kremlin said Yeltsin was suffering from a cold and cough after a welcoming ceremony with Uzbek President Islam Karimov was cut short. He had a prolonged bout of coughing on Monday as well.

The state of health of Kremlin leaders has traditionally been shrouded in secrecy and there is still no full picture of Yeltsin's health record. Following is a chronology of reported health problems. 1949-1955 Yeltsin plays volleyball for several hours a day and studies at night. The stress lands him in hospital, but he ignores doctors' warnings and discharges himself. The risk was colossal and I could have ruined my heart forever, he later writes in his autobiography.

1987 Yeltsin is taken to hospital with head and heart pains after being humiliated by the communist leadership. He is treated with sedatives for nervous stress and describes his headache at the time as the torture of hell. 1990 Yeltsin's plane crash lands in Spain. Barcelona doctors operate on his back. Oct. 1991 Yeltsin is ordered to take two weeks' rest after aides said he suffered minor heart problems.

Jan. 1992 Yeltsin fails to meet Japan's foreign minister. Tokyo news agencies quote aides as saying he has a heart condition but he reappears in good spirits 24 hours later. April 1992 Yeltsin misses a meeting with then U.S. treasury secretary Nicholas Brady. He said he was working, the media said he was drunk. April 1993 He says: I have only two problems tiredness and lack of sleep.

There are no other health problems. Sept. 1993 Yeltsin, suffering back pains, invites the Spanish surgeon who operated on him in 1990 to Moscow. April 1994 Yeltsin offers to undergo a public check-up to show everything I have inside me, from blood to urine. He adds: I hope you will all be as well as I am when you reach my age.

Dec. 1994 Yeltsin has a minor operation on his nose and disappears from the public eye officially because of the treatment while russian troops roll into rebel Chechnya. April 1995 Yeltsin's spokesman says he suffers from high blood pressure which can cause sporadic muscle weakness. July 1995 Yeltsin goes into hospital with an Ischaemic heart condition a blood supply problem. He spends two weeks in hospital followed by two weeks in a sanatorium.

Oct. 1995 Yeltsin again suffers from ischaemia. He spends more than two months in hospital and in a sanatorium. Feb. 1996 Yeltsin launches a vigorous campaign to win a second term in office. He travels non-stop, holds dozens of meetings, dances the twist and swings on a swing. June 28, 1996 Yeltsin disappears from public view a week before the end of the election campaign, from which he emerges victorious.

Aides say initially he has a sore throat. Aug. 1996 A Yeltsin aide says the president is suffering from colossal weariness after his election campaign and needs two months of peace and quiet. Sept. 5, 1996 Yeltsin, breaking with Kremlin tradition, says he will have heart surgery. Sept. 20, 1996 Surgeon renat akchurin, expected to lead the operation on Yeltsin, tells a U.S. television channel Yeltsin had an unreported heart attack in late June or early July. Nov. 1996 Yeltsin undergoes successful quintuple heart bypass operation in the central clinical hospital in Moscow. Jan. 9 Yeltsin taken to hospital with signs of pneumonia, which develops into a serious bout of pneumonia of both lungs.

Jan. 22 Yeltsin visits Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin in Kremlin, opening weeks of occasional visits to Kremlin. He is back in his office full time by the end of February. March 20 Yeltsin goes on his first foreign trip after the operation, meets U.S. president Bill Clinton in Helsinki. July 23 Yeltsin, who has regained some of the weight he lost during his illness, says his heart works like a clock.

Nov. 4 Yeltsin's surgeon Akchurin says he has no worries about Yeltsin's health one year after the operation. Dec. 10 Days after returning from a trip to Sweden during which he made several diplomatic blunders, Yeltsin retreats to the Barvikha sanatorium outside Moscow for a few weeks with what the Kremlin says is an acute respiratory viral infection. March 13 Yeltsin cancels all his engagements and the Kremlin says he had an acute respiratory infection.

It says a problem described as laryngotracheitis made him hoarse. March 17 The Kremlin says doctors advised Yeltsin to cancel engagements to avoid bronchial and lung complications developing. It said he should avoid straining his vocal cords. April 28 French President Jacques Chirac is quoted as saying that Yeltsin's health is good, but he has had a liver problem and is abstaining from alcohol.

Sept. 3 At a news conference with Clinton, Yeltsin has trouble remembering protocol and shocked his audience by leaving a long pause before giving an oblique reply to a question about former premier Victor Chernomyrdin. Oct. 8-9 Yeltsin looked pale, spoke with difficulty and walked stiffly at a Kremlin meeting with Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat and with Russian officers. Oct. 11 A ceremony, welcoming Yeltsin to Uzbekistan, is cut short after aides say he is suffering from a cold and cough.

His spokesman says: This happened not only due to his health condition but to the chilly weather. Oct. 12 Yeltsin suffers a prolonged bout of coughing at a signing ceremony in Uzbekistan. He tells reporters later he feels Okay, but makes no further comment. (Reuter)