# Trump's health **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 15, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963 "2016-08-15T23:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/81 "2016-08-19T04:50:23Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I have no idea. I’m a Hillary supporter, but I found this interesting. Heck, they can find Republican doctors who will diagnose a brain dead patient from 400 miles away. “She looks great! Will probably be dancing the Samba next week!” These are the same folks who think that someone can be faith healed over the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/82 "2016-08-19T04:55:51Z")
I thought for sure your “brain dead patient” was going to include an Alaska reference ---
**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:** [August 19, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/83 "2016-08-19T04:56:41Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Heck, they can find Republican doctors who will diagnose a brain dead patient from 400 miles away. “She looks great! Will probably be dancing the Samba next week!” These are the same folks who think that **someone can be faith healed over the phone.** Voice or text? ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/84 "2016-08-19T05:49:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > > Heck, they can find Republican doctors who will diagnose a brain dead patient from 400 miles away. “She looks great! Will probably be dancing the Samba next week!” These are the same folks who think that **someone can be faith healed over the phone.** > > Voice or text? There’s an app for that.… ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/85 "2016-08-19T06:14:54Z")
I’d take Clinton over Trump any day even if she released medical records showing she has Alzheimer’s and dementia. She has a competent experienced VP and will have good solid people in her cabinet. The US would do just fine under her administration even if she was in a vegetative coma for her entire term in office. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/86 "2016-08-19T07:30:31Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > BTW[this](http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2137349-clinton-releases-statement-by-physician-on-her-health/) is what a medical letter should look like. Yes and no. In the third paragraph of the letter, when the good doctor writes that Hillary "began anticoagulation to dissolve the clot " she is either talking down to the reader or is revealing a rather alarming misapprehension as to the role and mechanism of action of anticoagulation. Anticoagulant drugs such as the Coumadin (and the Lovenox) that she prescribed for HC do _not_ dissolve clots; rather, they prevent the formation of new ones. (As an aside, I must say that I am surprised to see Dr. Bardack opting to use brand names when listing Clinton’s medications, especially when referring to warfarin (i.e. “Coumadin”), which long ago lost its patent protected status.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/87 "2016-08-19T07:48:48Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Physician [and author](http://www.preemieprimer.com/) Dr. Jen Gunter does the spadework on Trump’s health letter. Lots of red flags: [I’m a doctor these are the things I find concerning with Trump’s medical letter – Dr. Jen Gunter](https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2016/08/16/im-a-doctor-these-are-the-things-i-find-concerning-with-trumps-medical-letter/) > > You don’t need to be a physician to recognize that the letter is laughable, but it’s nice to subject it to informed study. The thing I notice that may not have been there before is that Dr. Jacob Bornstein [died in 2010](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=jacob-bornstein&pid=139843879)! That should be enough to discredit this entirely, right? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/88 "2016-08-19T08:53:34Z")
Trump declared no Schedule C income and a $626,264 tax deduction on his 1984 taxes. He was taken to court. His tax preparer, Jack Mitnick, acknowledged that the signature on the return was his. But he also noted that while his firm had done work for Trump in the past, they had not prepared his 1984 return. Yet his signature had somehow found its way onto this amateurish form. There’s something familiar about this tale: think MfM, think! Trump really needs to get better assistants. They keep photocopying other people’s signatures and pasting them on to risible documents. Bad! > **[New Evidence Donald Trump Didn’t Pay Taxes](https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-evidence-donald-trump-didnt-pay-taxes)** > > If the presumptive GOP nominee keeps hiding his returns, Congress could force him to show his hand with a one-line amendment to the tax code. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/89 "2016-08-19T20:25:17Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The thing I notice that may not have been there before is that Dr. Jacob Bornstein [died in 2010](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=jacob-bornstein&pid=139843879)! > > That should be enough to discredit this entirely, right? Assuming they’re supposed to be one and the same. Of course, there’s so much wrong with the letter that it’s only confirmation of what we already knew. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/90 "2016-08-19T20:37:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The thing I notice that may not have been there before is that Dr. Jacob Bornstein [died in 2010](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=jacob-bornstein&pid=139843879)! > > That should be enough to discredit this entirely, right? Jacob Bornstein was Trump’s doctor. HAROLD Bornstein is Jacob’s son, who supposedly wrote this letter. The odd thing is, that Harold still has his dead father’s name on the letterhead, 5 years after his death. Not a smoking gun, but makes one wonder if someone got ahold of old letterhead. Someone who had a letter from when the old man was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/91 "2016-08-20T05:52:33Z")
Interestingly, rumor has it that Dr. Drew was reading an old and debunked medical record of Hillary Clinton: > **[Fact Checking Dr. Drew on Hillary Clinton’s ‘Medical Records’](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fact-checking-dr-drew-on-hillary-173133779.html)** > > Dr. Drew Pinsky made some accusations about Hillary Clinton’s health care, referring to her medical treatment as “bizarre,” “very unconventional,” and “old-fashioned.” ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/92 "2016-08-20T07:29:45Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Jacob Bornstein was Trump’s doctor. HAROLD Bornstein is Jacob’s son, who supposedly wrote this letter. The odd thing is, that Harold still has his dead father’s name on the letterhead, 5 years after his death. Not sure why the media is not making more of this. Can’t they just camp outside his practice and then confront him with a copy of the letter and ask him on tape to confirm if he wrote the letter or not? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/93 "2016-08-20T12:30:48Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Jacob Bornstein was Trump’s doctor. HAROLD Bornstein is Jacob’s son, who supposedly wrote this letter. The odd thing is, that Harold still has his dead father’s name on the letterhead, 5 years after his death. > > Not a smoking gun, but makes one wonder if someone got ahold of old letterhead. Someone who had a letter from when the old man was still alive. My memory’s wonky but I think this was explained in the comments of that doctor’s analysis of the (ridiculous) note: supposedly Jacob Bornstein’s obituary specifically mentioned that his practice would continue in perpetuity, presumably under his name. Law firms use dead partners’ names all the time. And hey, _Mad Men_’s Sterling Cooper kept “Sterling” on the letterhead even though the actual Sterling whom it was named for had died a while back. Although it doesn’t explain why Trump referred to the physician who’d written the note as “Jacob Bronstein” multiple times, including on his website (a reference that was later deleted and updated to say “Harold”). As the writer in [this _Verge_](http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/14/10123368/donald-trump-health-doctor-report-heaven-protect-me) article notes, it’s odd that Harold says he’s been Trump’s doctor for 30+ years but Trump still mixed up his name. All this was a kerfuffle back when the note originally came out last December. Why it never went anywhere is anyone’s guess. Overshadowed by too many other stories about Trump’s outrageous bullshit, most likely. ---
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/94 "2016-08-20T15:49:02Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Dr. Drew Pinsky says that he has “grave concerns” about Hillary’s health, and the treatment she gets. > > [Dr. Drew ‘Gravely Concerned’ About Hillary Clinton’s Health After Viewing Records (Audio)](https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/dr-drew-gravely-concerned-hillary-clinton-health-viewing-144812734.html) > [@psychobunny](#): > > Dr. Pinsky is an idiot. Sure, her thyroid medication is not the one I would choose but it’s not dangerous and there are many reasons why she might be on that particular blood thinner, not the least of which is that it is reversible if she were to have bleeding. Sure, her care may not be what I consider cutting edge but it isn’t necessarily wrong or dangerous. To be fair to Dr Pinsky, he’s partially right–at least about the treatment for hypothyroidism. Armour Thyroid is a combination of T3 and T4 sourced from desiccated pig thyroid glands, with a roughly 4:1 ratio of T4:T3. The ratio secreted from the thyroid gland in euthyroid (normal thyroid) humans is closer to 14:1, per the 2014 ATA hypothyroid guidelines, meaning being put on Armour exposes a patient to hyperthyroid symptoms because they’re getting too much T3. T4 alone (Levothyroxine) is the preferred treatment, according to guidelines, which do NOT endorse the use of desiccated thyroid products. Only one double-blind randomized crossover study has been conducted, and it was a superiority study which didn’t find the desiccated product to be superior to T4 in it’s primary quality of life endpoints, according to the [2014 ATA hypothyroid guidelines](http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/thy.2014.0028). The study did find that the desiccated product produced modest weight loss when compared to T4 alone, but that was not a primary outcome and the study was too short (16 weeks) and had relatively few patients (only 70 completed the study) to draw any conclusions about long term safety. No long term safety studies have been performed on desiccated thyroid products (to my knowledge or the knowledge of the authors of the ATA guidelines, at any rate), and at least one study has been performed finding symptoms of hyperthyroidism in patients on desiccated products attributable to the T3 content of said product, so I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s not dangerous. I’m in complete agreement with psychobunny with regards to Clinton’s use of warfarin. Even with regular laboratory monitoring, it still tends to end up less expensive in overall healthcare expenditure compared to the newer agents Dr Pinsky seems to think she should be using; all but one of which do not have a reversal antidote, like warfarin does. As long as she’s getting regular bloodwork done, warfarin is a perfectly acceptable choice for anticoagulation. > [@KarlGauss](#): > > (As an aside, I must say that I am surprised to see Dr. Bardack opting to use brand names when listing Clinton’s medications, especially when referring to warfarin (i.e. “Coumadin”), which long ago lost its patent protected status.) My experience, FWIW, is that patients generally recognize the brand name more easily than they do the generic, especially if they were first put on the brand and only later on got switched to a generic form. Dr Bardack may just be used to calling drugs by their brand names, even if a generic is available. I know I’ve done that when speaking to patients about their drugs, though I usually preface with “a generic version of” or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/95 "2016-08-20T16:40:07Z")
I’ve had a few patients on Armour Thyroid in the past few years. Most of them have been on it for decades and don’t want to switch because it works well for them. I wouldn’t start it on a new diagnosis, but if someone who has been on it for years with no problems and doesn’t want to switch shows up, I don’t have a problem continuing it. I have lots of patients still on coumadin, even though I’m pretty aggressive about switching to the novel oral anticoagulants. There are plenty of reasons to still be on it. And I almost always call it “coumadin”; it’s one of those brand names that might as well be generic at this point. I think I’d be OK with a “Goldwater Rule” for doctors other than psychiatrists–that is, a general frowning-upon of speculating about diagnoses in public figures that one hasn’t personally seen or examined. It demeans us. Of course, Pinsky is beyond shame at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/96 "2016-08-20T19:45:25Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > I’ve had a few patients on Armour Thyroid in the past few years. Most of them have been on it for decades and don’t want to switch because it works well for them. What kind of patient likes Armour Thyroid? Fat patients, skinny patients, patients with bugged-out eyes… > [@](#): > > I think I’d be OK with a “Goldwater Rule” for doctors other than psychiatrists–that is, a general frowning-upon of speculating about diagnoses in public figures that one hasn’t personally seen or examined. It demeans us. Of course, Pinsky is beyond shame at this point. “In your guts, you know you shouldn’t speculate as to the precise nature of his mental health.” ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/97 "2016-08-20T23:45:24Z")
Trump has repeatedly [bragged](http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-sleep-bragging-donald-trump-20151112-story.html)about sleeping only four hours a night. That’s just not healthy, particularly for someone his age. He’s got a history of following the Roveian tactic of accusing your enemy of being guilty of your biggest weakness, so when he says that Hillary has bad health it’s probably safest to assume that \*his \*own health is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/98 "2016-08-20T23:49:19Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > He’s got a history of following the Roveian tactic of accusing your enemy of being guilty of your biggest weakness, so when he says that Hillary has bad health it’s probably safest to assume that \*his \*own health is a problem. This is pretty much spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/99 "2016-08-21T03:52:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Actually not so much so. BP meds are not generally initiated unless BP is over 150 systolic or 90 diastolic and the goal is just to get under that or maybe to under 140/80 if being treated aggressively for some reason. A single antihypertensive med will lower BP generally only a few points, not dozens. > > No way he is being treated for hypertension and is at 110/65. It is just not consistent with medical practice. So say you, but I take two BP medications and 110/65 is actually a fairly typical reading these days. I should add that my physician DIL thinks I am over-medicated. But for an unmedicated person pushing 70 it is suspiciously low. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963/100 "2016-08-21T14:03:25Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > \*\*What kind of patient likes Armour Thyroid? > > Fat patients, skinny patients, patients with bugged-out eyes… > \*\* > “In your guts, you know you shouldn’t speculate as to the precise nature of his mental health.” Reference understood and enjoyed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-health/762963.md?page=6)