Washington US President Joe Biden is “a healthy, strong, 80-year-old man,” his personal physician Kevin O’Connor said on Thursday. “The President remains fit for service and fulfilling all of his duties without any exceptions or limitations,” O’Connor wrote in a summary of Biden’s annual health check.
The US President had previously been examined for three hours at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a military hospital in the Washington suburb of Bethesda. It was also ruled out that Biden, who had tested positive for Corona last year, could have long-Covid disease.
The investigation has been closely followed as Biden may want to run for a second term in 2024. He is already the oldest American ever to have served as President of the United States.
According to O’Connor, the medics discovered a tissue change on Biden’s chest, which they sent to the lab for a biopsy. The result is still pending. Just a few weeks ago, First Lady Jill Biden had several growths removed above her eye because of suspected skin cancer.
Other examinations of the president’s head, ears, eyes, nose and throat were normal, the statement said. An “extremely detailed” neurological exam was performed, O’Connor wrote. No risk of stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease was identified. At the age of 45, Biden underwent brain surgery for two cranial aneurysms.
However, Biden continued to suffer from a “stiff gait,” the report said, so he was prescribed custom insoles to support his feet. The US President works out five days a week. As with the last health certificate, which was released in November 2021, Biden’s contact lens power has been adjusted. In addition, the diagnoses of pollen allergy and reflux were again in the letter. O’Connor has been Biden’s doctor since 2009.
Biden is seeking a second term
The investigation was originally supposed to be completed by the end of January, but the White House justified the postponement with Biden’s busy schedule. In Washington, Biden is expected to announce his campaign for the 2024 presidential election in the near future. “He’ll be back, that’s almost certain,” Biden biographer Chris Whipple recently told the Handelsblatt.
However, some Americans are concerned about Biden’s physical and mental fitness. According to a new poll by Reuters and the Ipsos Institute, about three-quarters of US citizens say Biden is too old for the presidency. While most supporters of the Democrats consider Biden to be mentally fit, they fear that a man his age cannot sustain the physical demands of office.
Another poll conducted by the University of Massachusetts found that two-thirds of US citizens want an upper age limit for presidents. If Biden runs again and wins the election, he would be 86 years old. The average life expectancy of an American male is 73 years.
Biden addressed the concerns in an interview a few days ago. “Look, I believe in destiny,” he told PBS. “I would be perfectly honest with the American people if I felt there was a health issue, anything that would prevent me from doing the job. But I think people just have to watch me and see for themselves.” Biden’s longest public appearance in recent weeks was his State of the Union address in early February.
A presidential health check typically includes measuring height, weight, and blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol levels. At both his last and current exams, Biden also had his intestines, eyes, skin, ears, nose and throat, neurological and pulmonary systems, thyroid and teeth checked.
Nixon, Obama, Trump: What Their Checks Revealed
US Presidents are not required to produce health certificates, but most incumbents choose to do so. However, it is up to the patient how much information is published. In the past, US citizens learned many details about their presidents: Barack Obama’s personal physician found out that he had given up smoking with the help of nicotine chewing gum. Bill Clinton’s doctor complained about his weight fluctuations, and Richard Nixon’s doctor complained that the president did not exercise enough.
Donald Trump’s health certificates were relatively brief. His doctor at the time, Ronny Jackson, wrote that the president was in “excellent health” and joked that Trump could “live to be 200 years old” if only he would improve his diet and lose weight.
It remains unclear whether Biden also underwent cognitive tests, for example for memory performance. US presidents have conducted such studies in the past but rarely published the results, political historian Matthew Dallek told the New York Times.
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