Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have both revealed more information about their own health, although it is unclear whether they'll satisfy critics -- and the method of delivery may also raise additional questions.
Clinton again released a letter from her physician and Trump took to the airwaves: handing "Dr. Oz" a two-page document detailing the results of his latest exam.
"On Friday, September 2nd, I evaluated Mrs. Clinton for a 24-hour history of a low grade fever, congestion and fatigue," , released by the Clinton campaign.
"On examination, she was noted to have a temperature of 99.4; her vital signs were otherwise normal as was her physical exam. She was advised to rest, put on a short course of antibiotics and continued on her allergy medications for an upper respiratory tract infection in the setting of her seasonal allergies. Over the next several days as she traveled, her congestion worsened and she developed a cough. She was advised to see me when she returned from her travels for further testing."
Bardack continued: "On Friday, September 9th, she was seen and evaluated in my office. A non-contrast chest CT scan, including a CTA calcium score, was performed. This test allowed for specific imaging of her lungs while also following up on cardiac risk stratification from 2010 given her family history of heart disease. The results of the CT scan revealed a small right middle lobe pneumonia; her coronary calcium score was again zero. She was treated with antibiotics for pneumonia and advised to rest. This was a mild non-contagious bacterial pneumonia."
"On Sunday, September 11 at the 9/11 Memorial event, she became overheated and dehydrated and as a result felt dizzy," Bardack wrote. "I examined her immediately upon her return home; she was rehydrating and recovering nicely. I advised her to stay home and rest for the next several days. Mrs. Clinton has since been evaluated by me several times and continues to improve."
Beyond Pneumonia
The letter also addressed other areas of Clinton's medical history, noting that "Mrs. Clinton's current medications include Armor Thyroid, Coumadin dosed as directed, Levaquin (for a total ten days), Clarinex, as well as B12 as needed. ... She remains up to date on all of her immunizations, including Prevnar and Pneumovax. Her Coumadin levels have been adjusted as needed according to regular lab testing. She had a normal mammogram and breast ultrasound."
In terms of lab tests, "Her laboratory testing ... was normal, including cholesterol of 189, LDL of 103, HDL of 56 and triglycerides of 159," Bardack said. "Her vital signs showed blood pressure of 100/70, heart rate of 70, respiratory rate of 18, temperature of 97.8 and pulse-oximetry of 99%. The remainder of her complete physical exam was normal and she is in excellent mental condition."
Several physicians weighed in on the results. "From a cardiovascular risk point of view, she is low-risk with her coronary calcium score of 0 and her excellent lipid levels," , professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, wrote in an email to MedPage Today.
However, he added, "It is not specified why she is taking warfarin/Coumadin. This would be additional information that would be helpful to fully understand her health status."
, an internist at the University of Rochester (N.Y.), applauded Clinton's disclosures. "I'm remarkably pleased with the objective and open information that was provided by Mrs Clinton's doctor, and assuming with her permission," Cook wrote in an email. "I'm very much into prevention, so hearing that candidates are up to date with immunizations and cancer screening is great to hear."
Dr. Oz and Mr. Trump
Meanwhile, Trump appeared on the "Dr. Oz" syndicated television show on Thursday with his own medical report. The show's host, , went through a brief review of systems with Trump, who answered "no" to questions about whether he had any history of neurologic problems, stroke, cancer, stomach problems, or other ailments. As far as his family medical history, Trump mentioned that his father developed "what was probably Alzheimer's" during the last few years of his life; he died at age 93.
Trump also handed Oz two pages that the candidate said included results of his latest exam and test results from a series done at Lenox Hill Hospital last week. Oz read the results to the audience and Trump campaign released the
- Height: 6'3"
- Weight: 236 lbs.
- Total cholesterol: 169 mg/dL
- HDL: 63 mg/dL
- LDL: 94 mg/dL
- Triglycerides: 61 mg/dL
- PSA: 0.15 ng/mL
- Blood pressure: 116/70 mmHg
- Blood sugar: 99 mmol/L
- Calcium score: 98 HU
- Testosterone level: 441 ng/dL
As for exercise, Trump said he was "speaking in front of 15,000 or 20,000 people and I am up there using a lot of motion; in its own way it's a pretty healthy act. A lot of times these rooms are very hot, like saunas, so I guess it's a form of exercise."
His doctor, Harold N. Bornstein, MD, wrote that Trump takes rosuvastatin (Crestor) and low dose aspirin, but he did not indicate the exact dose in either case.
Trump said he has never needed much sleep and noted, "I feel as good today as I did when I was 30. When I play golf, I feel may be a better golfer today than I was 15-20 years ago ... I hit the ball better; I putt just as well."
According to the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association's cardiovascular disease risk calculator, Trump's numbers put him at about a 13% risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years, Cannon wrote.
Using that same risk calculator, , professor of medicine and director of the lipid clinic at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, noted that Clinton's 10-year risk score comes out to 4.7%. "Her coronary calcium score by CTA is zero -- good news. I don't feel that I have sufficient information to comment on her need for Coumadin or thyroid hormone."
, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Medicine Institute, said that overall, "The health information on the candidates is useful, but it's important to recognize that it's in the form of a summary, not the full records, and therefore we would be reliant on others for interpretation. The details included along with the vital signs are good indicators of someone's overall current state of health."