Donald Trump's Health
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The strange twists and turns of this year’s presidential election has now thrust each candidates health into question. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s health is being scrutinized right and left (pun intended) after her pneumonia diagnosis along with other whispers of her having even more serious medical conditions going on.
On the other hand, Donald Trump’s health status remains largely unknown. Both candidates are considered older people with Clinton celebrating her 69th birthday next month and Trump who celebrated his 70th back in June. For over a year, these two senior citizens have had grueling schedules flying back and forth across the country, giving speeches, interviews and working on their policy standards that even the most tip top in-shape much younger whippersnapper would find exhausting.
We know more about Hillary’s health than we do about Donald Trumps – at least for now. But what about Trump’s health - if elected as our next president of the United States, he will have the distinction of being the oldest president our country has ever elected since Ronald Reagan was at the age of 69.
Other than what his personal physician since 1980, Dr. Harold N. Bornstein at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, wrote in a brief note on December 4, 2015, there is not much else known on Mr. Trump’s health. In the memo Dr. Bornstein transcribed, here is what he stated:
· Trump had a blood pressure of 110/65
· His PSA (prostate specific antigen) score was 0.15 falling in the low to normal range
· He had lost fifteen pounds over the past year
· He has never had any form of cancer
· He has never had a hip, knee or shoulder replacement
· At the age of 10 he had an appendectomy
· His physical strength, stamina and cardiovascular status is excellent
· He has no history of using alcohol or tobacco products
Dr. Bornstein also shared that Donald Trump takes a daily aspirin of 81 milligrams and a low dose of a statin, a class of drug that includes Lipitor, Zocor and others used for lowering cholesterol – but he did not share what his cholesterol number was at that time. The report did not state what his body mass index (BMI) or weight was, his HgA1C number of whether he is diabetic or not, or what his triglyceride status was.
A different source stated his height at six feet, two inches and weighing 198 pounds. If that is accurate, Trump would have a BMI of 25.4 placing him slightly overweight.
If we are to go off of that short report from Dr. Bornstein, it looks like Donald Trump is doing well when compared to other people of his same age. Here is how he compares to people of his age group from information from the National Center for Health Statistics 2014:
· Percent of men age 65-74 who are obese – 36.2% - Trump is not obese
· Percent of men age 65-74 who have hypertension and/or are taking antihypertensive medication – 63.4 % - Trump is not hypertensive or taking antihypertensive medication
· Percent of people age 65 and older who smoke cigarettes – 8.5% - Trump does not smoke
· Percent of people age 65 and older who are in fair or poor health – 21.7% - According to Trump’s physician, he is in excellent health.
The American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) fact sheet states that on average, individuals 65 to 70 take nearly 14 prescriptions per year which is not surprising as seniors have more chronic diseases and multiple conditions so they use more prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Mr. Trump apparently uses only two prescription medications. Another fact from ASCP is more than 77% of seniors between the ages of 65 and 79 suffer from one or more chronic diseases.
The leading causes of death of people age 65 and older is heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease which Trump appears to not have had any of these medical conditions. However, his father Fred Trump died at the age of 93 in 1999 after suffering from six year of Alzheimer’s disease and succumbing to pneumonia. His mother Mary Ann died at the age of 88 in 2000.
For now, Donald Trump’s health appears to trump Hillary’s. He does have a persona about him of being younger than his years and apparently has had few if any health problems on the campaign. In his younger days he used to play a lot of sports from football to baseball, soccer and wrestling. Nowadays, he keeps in shape by golfing and going on walks. However his dietary habits may be less than stellar – he has been pictured “loving it” when he wolfed down a McDonald’s meal on his personal jet with another pic of him having a ‘finger lickin’ good KFC meal. His to go drink is Diet Coke and seems to have a penchant for all foods fried, greasy and sweet. That could be his one downfall.
Until he releases his full medical records for review, this is what we have to go on. Our country has chosen and narrowed down our democrat and republican nominees to two senior citizens to compete against one another for the highest office in the nation – only time will tell if that was a wise decision or not.