Medical examination | Biden is “in good health”, assures his doctor

(Washington) Joe Biden is “in good health”, “vigorous” and “fit” to fulfill his function as President of the United States, according to a detailed account released by his doctor on Friday, after a report much awaited health.

The doctor notes that the president, who will turn 79 on Saturday, is taking three prescription drugs and two without a prescription.

He also points out that compared to his last exam, in December 2019, Joe Biden has a stiffer gait and a frequent cough.

The practitioner, Kevin O’Connor, after examination, attributes these changes to ailments without major seriousness.

He notices a “slight” nervous affection [neuropathie] affecting the feet, as well as the consequences of a fracture, causes of the stiffer gait. And attributes the frequent cough to gastroesophageal reflux.

This health check also included a colonoscopy under anesthesia, which required Joe Biden to transfer his powers for an hour and 25 minutes to Vice President Kamala Harris, who briefly became the first woman to hold presidential prerogatives in the history of the United States.

This colonoscopy was deemed “reassuring” by the doctor, who has followed Joe Biden for 13 years.

Upon reading the report, we learn that the President of the United States is 6 feet tall and weighs 83 kilos, that he wears contact lenses, that he does not smoke or drink, and that he plays sports. five times a week.

The assessment also lists the conditions considered benign from which he suffers, in addition to his gastric and gait problems: “non-valvular atrial fibrillation”, a heart condition which is “stable” after treatment; a high level of lipids in the blood also successfully corrected by treatment; allergies and arthritis.

Action of grace

Returning to the White House after this health check, the Democratic president bowed, with visible satisfaction, to the tradition which wants him to grant before Thanksgiving his pardon to two turkeys – named Peanut Butter ( peanut butter) and Jelly (jam) in homage to a very popular sandwich.

Turkey is an iconic dish for Thanksgiving, one of the most observed popular holidays in the United States, which Americans will be celebrating next week.

After a speech punctuated by jokes and interspersed with giggles from the two birds, a smiling Joe Biden mingled with visitors for a long time, posing for photographs and joking with children in the rose garden of the White House.

“My check-up went very well,” he said, leaving around 2:05 pm local Walter Reed hospital, on the outskirts of Washington. Arriving a little later at the White House the president, smiling, had said: “I feel good. ”

A terse statement from the White House at 6 a.m. announced that the president would undergo a routine health check-up, the first since his inauguration.

The oldest president in the history of the United States, he has made it known publicly that he intends to run for re-election in 2024.

His age, however, is fueling speculation that he might give up.

Joe Biden has promised the greatest transparency about his state of health, while some supporters of Donald Trump do not lose any opportunity to question publicly, in a more or less roundabout way, about his physical health and his lucidity.

He had experienced a serious health alert in 1988. Urgently rushed to hospital after a ruptured aneurysm, a priest had even been called to give him the last rites.

If Joe Biden did not stand for re-election, Kamala Harris, 57, would be seen as a natural candidate for the Democratic camp, although most observers so far have a mixed record of her tenure as vice president.