What Does Donald Trump’s Doctor’s Note Really Mean?
Donald Trump released a doctor’s note on his overall health from his personal physician on Monday. And it was … interesting.
The note, written by Harold Bornstein, MD, of New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital, called Trump’s health “extraordinary” and gave him a glowing review.
Here’s a breakdown, per Bornstein:
Over the past 39 years, Trump has had “no significant medical problems.”
Trump recently had a complete medical exam that “showed only positive results.”
His blood pressure and laboratory results were “astonishingly excellent.”
His physical strength and stamina are “extraordinary.”
In the past 12 months, Trump lost at least 15 pounds.
His blood pressure is 110/65.
He takes 81 milligrams of aspirin daily and a low dose of a statin.
His prostate-specific antigen (PSA) score is 0.15.
His cardiovascular status is “excellent.”
Trump has “no history of ever using alcohol or tobacco products.”
Bornstein concluded with this: “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual elected to the presidency.”
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The note was released nearly two weeks after Trump, 69, said on Twitter that he would release a “full medical report” about his physical ability to serve as president if elected. (That declaration came on the heels of a Politico article that questioned Trump’s preference for unhealthy foods and his lack of regular workouts.)
But … is this note for real?
“It’s over the top, and language that I, or none of my colleagues, would ever use,” Morton Tavel, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and author of Snake Oil Is Alive and Well: The Clash Between Myths and Reality — Reflections of a Physician, tells Yahoo Health.
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Marc Leavey, MD, an internist at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center, echoes the sentiment. “This note is written for an audience, with a frankly boastful style,” he tells Yahoo Health. “I don’t think it is the kind of letter one would typically write for a patient as a statement of health.”
While Trump’s blood pressure sounds great, Leavey says it’s actually pretty normal. “I have many people at that age who have normal blood pressures,” he adds.
But S. Adam Ramin, MD, a urologist and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists in Los Angeles, tells Yahoo Health that Trump’s PSA is an “excellent indicator” that he doesn’t have prostate cancer. “For someone in his age group, if it’s less than 2.5, that’s a good prognostic indicator,” he says. “The PSA is not the only thing we look at in terms of prostate cancer, but it’s a good sign.”
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As for that regular aspirin and statin intake, Tavel says that indicates Trump is trying to minimize his odds of having a heart attack. “The fact that he is taking these suggests that there is a reason to suspect he is at some increased risk — for instance, having an elevated blood cholesterol level,” Tavel says.
Of course, Tavel says, there’s a “but”: “We are really not given a total picture, which would include a comprehensive blood analysis (seeking things like anemia, kidney function, cholesterol level, etc.), electrocardiogram, and possibly a chest X-ray.”
While Trump’s health sounds amazing for a man his age, Leavey says he’s not superhuman — the stats he released actually paint a normal picture of a healthy person of his age. “I have many 70-year-old men who are on no medications and healthy, so that is not so unusual,” he says.
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