CHICAGO — In a one-page letter released Thursday, Sen. Barack Obama’s primary care physician said the Democratic presidential candidate has been in “excellent health” during the 21 years he has been a patient.
Obama’s campaign declined to say whether the 46-year-old’s full medical records would eventually be released.
Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, 71, released more than 1,000 pages of medical documents last week to make the case that he is vigorous enough to be president. McCain’s doctors detailed his successful treatment for melanoma and concluded he is physically fit for the job, an assessment Obama’s doctor also made.
“Sen. Barack Obama is in overall good physical and mental health needed to maintain the resiliency required in the office of president,” wrote Dr. David Scheiner, a general internist at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Rush University Medical Center.
Obama’s doctor said the senator was “completely normal” during his last medical checkup Jan. 15, 2007.
But the doctor also noted Obama’s family history of cancer and his former longtime habit of cigarette smoking. Although he still regularly chews Nicorette gum, Obama has said he stopped smoking before starting his presidential bid in February 2007.
Longtime friends have said Obama was a regular smoker as far back as college. McCain is also a former smoker who used two packs of cigarettes a day for about 25 years before he quit in 1980.
Obama’s blood pressure was reported to be excellent, at 90 over 60. Optimal is considered to be below 120 over 80.
During his last appointment, his resting pulse was 60 beats per minute, a reflection of his regular exercise on the basketball court and on exercise equipment. His cholesterol was 173, below the 200 considered best for good health.
Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said there is no standard for the extent of medical records released by presidential nominees.
“It has changed over time, with more and more information being released by the candidates,” he said. “If you think about what we did not know about the health of (John F. Kennedy), it is quite staggering.”
