# The President's Physical. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785 "2018-01-17T00:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/61 "2018-01-18T04:25:32Z")
I know it’s hard to take but I accept that Trump is in very good health. Yes-his LDL cholesterol is high, but I would bet that he just hasn’t been taking his medication. I see it all the time. Patient has excellent cholesterol numbers on medication and they swear that they are taking it regularly. All of a sudden the numbers are back to pre-treatment levels. I order an increased dose but ask the patient again if he is sure he hasn’t missed a dose or two. The patient invariably tell me that maybe they missed a few days, or weeks or months. I read them the riot act and on the next check the levels are well-controlled again. He apparently did very well on his stress test. If you assume that these are baseline cholesterol levels and calculate his 10 year cardiac risk by AHA/ACC criteria, it is about 25% (25% chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years). That’s about par for the course for somebody his age. I agree that he’s probably not currently 6’3" because people shrink as they age. However, BMI should really reflect the size of your frame and not whether the discs in your back are getting squeezed, so it would not be terrible to use his full adult height to calculate BMI (would you tell an osteoporotic senior who was initially 5’6" and 130 lbs but has now lost 4 inches secondary to compression fractures in her spine that she should now weigh only 110 pounds?) Regarding the cognitive testing, it’s hard to memorize them to “cheat” if you actually have dementia. That is why we use the same ones repeatedly to show changes in a patient’s function over time. In addition, it is not like this is the only standardized cognitive test. (Just off the top of my head, there is the Montreal, MMSE, 6-CIT, SLUMS (and when I look them up I also remember the GPCOG, mini-COG, ACE)). I currently use the MMSE or the 6-CIT (there is one insurance company that requests it on Medicare patients) but my electronic record has the SLUMS built in. In short, unless the President was informed ahead of time, he wouldn’t necessarily know which test the doctor was going to use. In additional some of these have variations (the MMSE lets you choose the words you ask patients to remember or which you ask them to spell backwards-I alternate between WORLD and EARTH). Finally, everybody is ignoring the real elephant in the room which is the low vitamin D level. Why is nobody commenting on it? (In case it is not obvious I am being sarcastic because there are no good studies showing that low vitamin D causes disease or that supplementing it helps any disease but since we know what “normal” is it gives doctors something easy to treat and by golly if they are going to check it they might as well treat it.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/62 "2018-01-18T04:33:53Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > … Finally, everybody is ignoring the real elephant in the room which is the low vitamin D level. Why is nobody commenting on it? … Because he has a House-full of Vitamin R to make up the difference. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/63 "2018-01-18T05:47:10Z")
It’s just a matter of time before Dr. Ronny gets his license yanked for falsification of medical records. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/64 "2018-01-18T06:32:38Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I didn’t watch the news conference. Was the Doctor asked if he himself took the height / weight measurements? Was he asked about the misspelled name? Still curious about these questions if anyone knows. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/65 "2018-01-18T07:29:35Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > There is something very fishy about this doctor’s report. An out of shape guy who eats McDonalds, doesn’t exercise, and is rapidly gaining weight, is not in “excellent” health. > > I wonder if Trump had a little talk with Dr. Ronny. “You know I demand loyalty. Dozens of doctors would give their left arm to have a nice cushy job like you have. You’re not going to say anything foolish like Sloppy Steve. You know, things didn’t turn out so good for Sloppy Steve.” Possibly. To my mind the red flags are the claims and wording of the report: “perfect score” on cognitive test, which few people get; “absolutely fit” for duty; the doctor’s uncanny ability to predict the future: “will likely remain so for the duration”; claim that cognitive test “wasn’t necessary” but Trump asked for it anyway. This sounds to me an awful lot like the “healthiest man in the world” assessment from that other quack a year or so ago. Both sound like they were practically dictated (literally) by the Orange Cheeto himself. They’re just totally lacking in the objectivity and professionalism you’d expect in a medical assessment. The “perfect score” on a cognitive test is especially funny for someone who has the attention span of a gnat. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/66 "2018-01-18T08:58:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It’s just a matter of time before Dr. Ronny gets his license yanked for falsification of medical records. What the actual records of the physical say may have little to anything to do with what the admiral was ordered by his superiors to tell the public. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/67 "2018-01-18T15:43:24Z")
Sure, people sometimes shrink as they age. But that’s not what’s going on here, since his doctor is saying that he’s actually two inches taller than his driver’s license. This is just that old joke about “your girth is perfectly normal, for a 200’ tall Douglass Fir”, except told in all seriousness, thinking that it’ll actually fool people. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/68 "2018-01-18T16:00:57Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > … > Finally, everybody is ignoring the real elephant in the room which is the low vitamin D level. Why is nobody commenting on it? (In case it is not obvious I am being sarcastic because there are no good studies showing that low vitamin D causes disease or that supplementing it helps any disease but since we know what “normal” is it gives doctors something easy to treat and by golly if they are going to check it they might as well treat it.) Apparently Vitamin D deficiency is common in the elderly. (You knew that, right?) Mine is low (I’m a year younger than thump), and I live in the sunbelt. Even with all his golfing, thump is afflicted with it, too. > [@](#): > > [Summary](https://www.iscd.org/publications/osteoflash/vitamin-d-deficiency-the-silent-epidemic-of-the-elderly/) > In summary, vitamin D deficiency is extremely prevalent among the elderly and is associated with a higher risk of fracture. Simple treatments with calcium and vitamin D have now been clearly demonstrated to reduce fracture risk and are well tolerated. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences established adequate daily vitamin D intake levels of 400 IU for those aged 51-69 and 600 IU for men and women over age 70. Most researchers currently feel that greater amounts of vitamin D are necessary, particularly during the winter in the northern latitudes. Additional studies will assist in clarifying the specific requirements for vitamin D supplementation. > [@](#): > > [Why Are Seniors at Risk?](https://www.parentgiving.com/elder-care/vitamin-d-deficiency-a-common-risk-factor-for-seniors/) > > People over age 50 have an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency and the risk increases with age. As people age they lose some of their ability to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D also needs to be activated in the kidney before it can be used by the body and this function also decreases with age. Finally, elderly people who are homebound are less likely to get outdoor exercise and activity. Researchers have suggested that it takes up to 30 minutes of sun exposure twice a week to make a sufficient amount of vitamin D from sunlight. > [@](#): > > [Low Vitamin D Level Tied to Cognitive Decline](https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20100416/low-vitamin-d-level-tied-to-cognitive-decline#1) > _Study Shows Elderly People With Higher Vitamin D Levels Performed Better on Mental Tests_ > By Charlene Laino > From the WebMD Archives > > April 16, 2010 (Toronto) – Two new studies add to evidence that older people with low levels of vitamin D may be more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment. > > The hope is that vitamin D supplements may be able to slow mental decline – an intervention that one research team plans to put to the test this summer. > > Vitamin D is best known for helping the body absorb calcium, which restores and strengthens bone, protecting against fracture. > > But vitamin D also seems to have anti-inflammatory effects that may help keep blood vessels healthy, ensuring nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood flow to brain cells, says Amie Peterson, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. > > In addition, the presence of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain suggests that it may directly affect brain tissue, she tells WebMD. > … OTOH… > [@](#): > > [High doses of vitamin D may hurt seniors instead of help](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-doses-of-vitamin-d-may-hurt-seniors-instead-of-help/) > Robyn Mackenzie > > Vitamin D is linked to a number of health benefits, including strengthening bones and teeth and a lower risk of developing health conditions like diabetes and certain cancers. It is also is thought to have protective benefits against cognitive decline in older adults. > > But a new study suggests when it comes to vitamin D, too much can be a bad thing. > > According to the research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, higher monthly doses of vitamin D offer no benefits when it comes to lower extremity functioning and muscle strength in adults over the age of 70. What’s more, higher doses also led to an increased risk of falling in these seniors. > > Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults and can set off a downward spiral of health problems and loss of independence. > > Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari of the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland and her team conducted a one-year, randomized clinical trial that included 200 men and women aged 70 or older who had suffered a prior fall. Almost 60 percent of them were vitamin D deficient before the start of the study. > > The researchers divided the participants into three groups: one third received 24,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D3 per month – the current recommended daily allowance by the Institute of Medicine (IOM); another third received a higher dose, 60,000 IU of vitamin D3; and the third group received 24,000 IU of vitamin D3 plus calcifediol, a broken-down version of vitamin D more readily available to the muscles and bone. > > After following up after six and 12 months, the researchers found that just over 60 percent of the participants experienced falls during the one-year period. But there was a big difference between the groups: those in the low-dose group were significantly less likely to fall. > > Those in the high-dose 60,000 IU group, as well as in the group that got 24,000 IU of vitamin D plus calcifediol, had higher rates of participants who fell – 66.9 percent and 66.1 percent, respectively – than the low-dose group, which had a fall rate of 47.9 percent. > … Bottom line: getting old sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/69 "2018-01-18T16:06:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What the actual records of the physical say may have little to anything to do with what the admiral was ordered by his superiors to tell the public. And how do we know it wasn’t mind control rays from an alien spaceship, which crashed after take off to return to the planet Zircon, but which was covered up by [faking a meteor](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/01/17/watch-the-amazing-moment-a-rare-meteor-burst-across-the-night-sky-over-michigan/)? Wake up, sheeple! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/70 "2018-01-18T16:16:28Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I have wondered if Trump will survive 4 years. > > He was basically semi-retired, play acting on The Apprentice. He was the face of his company. I don’t think he had personally managed any big projects in many years. > > Jumping back into a stressful job like the Presidency can’t be good. Especially if it’s true that he blows up at people every day. His blood pressure must be dangerously high. > > I wouldn’t care if Pence wasn’t the next doofus at bat. I’d be agreeing with you if there was any evidence that he takes the job seriously. Watching Fox and Friends and then tweeting about it all day isn’t exactly stressful. He doesn’t read memos, he doesn’t read briefings, he doesn’t read intelligence reports, he doesn’t read anything. He is perfectly content to be ignorant to be ignorant at the top of his lungs. It’s sad to see that naval doctor prostitute himself and use such puffery to describe Donald’s help. He sounds like a cross between Baghdad Bob and North Korean Kim biographers. Really, the least tired of all the people on a foreign trip? Why was it he had to take a golf cart while other world leaders walked during a summit? I think his heart, such as it is, is a ticking time bomb and if we’re unlucky enough not to see him impeached at least we might get lucky and see him drop dead. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/71 "2018-01-18T16:20:04Z")
**Shodan** , we’ve already established that the doctor lied (about his height, at least, and therefore also about anything derived from height, like BMI). The question at this point is just why he lied, and “because Trump told him to” is a lot more plausible than alien mind-control rays. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/72 "2018-01-18T16:26:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > …Why was it he had to take a golf cart while other world leaders walked during a summit? I think his heart, such as it is, is a ticking time bomb and if we’re unlucky enough not to see him impeached at least we might get lucky and see him drop dead. Thump has some strange ideas about exercise, namely, that it “uses up” the finite supply that a person is born with. Not making this up. > [@](#): > > [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/donald-trump-exercise/index.html)–President Donald Trump has a number of unorthodox theories about politics. But his theory of why exercise is bad for you is the strangest I’ve heard yet. > > “Other than golf, he considers exercise misguided, arguing that a person, like a battery, is born with a finite amount of energy,” writes Evan Osnos in a piece entitled “How Trump Could Get Fired” that appears in the May 8, edition of the New Yorker. > > That’s far from the first time we’ve heard that Trump and exercise aren’t friends. This, from a February 6 piece in Axios: “The only workout Trump gets is an occasional round of golf. Even then, he mostly travels by cart. On the campaign trail he viewed his rallies as his form of exercise.” > > In their revelatory book “Trump Revealed,” the Washington Post’s Mike Kranisch and Marc Fisher wrote more extensively about Trump’s “battery” theory of energy: > > _After college, after Trump mostly gave up his personal athletic interests, he came to view time spent playing sports as time wasted. Trump believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted. So he didn’t work out. When he learned that John O’Donnell, one of his top casino executives, was training for an Ironman triathlon, he admonished him, “You are going to die young because of this.”_ > … (Italics in original) Of course, this is from CNN, so I guess it’s Fake News. \ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/73 "2018-01-18T16:28:22Z")
No, that hasn’t actually been established. “He looks fat to me” isn’t proof. So mind control rays it is. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/74 "2018-01-18T16:30:52Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > There is something very fishy about this doctor’s report. An out of shape guy who eats McDonalds, doesn’t exercise, and is rapidly gaining weight, is not in “excellent” health. It’s unethical as hell, but I’m all for putting a strong positive spin on his condition. “Mr. President, this stressful and sedentary lifestyle which includes vast amounts of low-quality fast-food seems to suit you remarkably well. The only thing I would suggest to improve your life further would be to include at least two packs of Marlboro 100s per day.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/75 "2018-01-18T16:35:31Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, that hasn’t actually been established. “He looks fat to me” isn’t proof. So mind control rays it is. > > Regards, > Shodan I think it’s more the question of height. I don’t think anything’s been “proved,” but it does seem more likely than not, to me, that his height is optimistic. It’s interesting to note that I see several books from the 80s and early 90s that describe him as six-foot-two. I’ll give the doc a benefit of a doubt regarding the reporting of weight (it seems just barely plausible to me), but I can see the reason for the high degree of skepticism here. Personally, I don’t give a shit about his height or weight–that’s hardly a matter of interest. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/76 "2018-01-18T16:42:41Z")
> [@B-Rad](#): > > The only thing I would suggest to improve your life further would be to include at least two packs of Marlboro 100s per day." Hell, at that point, go for the filterless Camels. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/77 "2018-01-18T16:42:44Z")
No-not really. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/78 "2018-01-18T16:43:06Z")
I’d still like to know why he seems considerably more articulate in old interviews. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/79 "2018-01-18T16:46:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No-not really. But he’s sure as hell mental. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785/80 "2018-01-18T16:46:40Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I’d still like to know why he seems considerably more articulate in old interviews. Either his intelligence has decreased, or he thinks his core audience has a decreased intelligence and he is trying to emulate them. If the latter is true, then the fact that they do not object to his doing this means he is guessing right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidents-physical/806785.md?page=5)