Trump's health

Since I was pregnant, I’ve had labile blood pressure, which means it might be 120/70 in the morning, and four hours later 160/80. My doctor put me on a very low dose of a blood pressure medication, and now it holds pretty steady at about 110/60. Before I was pregnant, I actually had low blood pressure, and it would often be 90/50. I got light-headed if I stood up too fast.

I’ve had tests for an underlying problem, and no one can find anything.

My father took blood pressure medication for 30 years, and his blood pressure was usually about 120/70. So yeah, blood pressure medication can cause a pretty big drop, especially if you eat well, exercise, and aren’t overweight.

That letter was hilarious. The English major in me wanted to correct it with a red pen. Not that I haven’t seen real letters from real doctors with dangling clauses and misplaced modifiers, but no doctor is going to say that most of his tests have “positive” results. In medicine, negative = good; positive = bad.

Trump’s funeral is going to be yuuuuuge.

Like Red Skelton said about Louis B. Mayer, “Give the people what they want, and they’ll turn out for it.”

They’ll be coming out to make sure the SOB is dead.

You heard Katrina Pierson’s (Trump’s spokesperson) lies that Afghanistan was ‘Obama’s war’? Remember Melania’s plagiarized speech. Or Trump insisting Obama is the founder of ISIS. The Trump team is a bunch of incompetent idiots. The phony doctor note is exactly what I would expect from his campaign.

We don’t need a doctor’s report on that one.

“But even under the circumstances, I’m surprised he’s this quiet.”

Just to nitpick-according to the SPRINT study, best practice now is to aim for less than 120 systolic. There were dramatic decreases in outcomes especially for patients over 70. I would be skeptial of any internist not aware of this data as it has been all over the journals and CME lately. I wouldn’t let my otherwise healthy patients go above 140/90 regularly without treatment and I would consider 110/65 ideal. The letter states he is only on aspirin and a statin for cholesterol. It is absolutely possible that he does not have the genetic predisposition to hypertension and that his blood pressure is at a normal value of 110/65 even without medication. If he is being treated for hypertension, that is an appropriate goal. The rest of his doctor’s letter is still BS.

Not an internist (peds) so my apologies for going by 2014 guidelines … but educate me then in this …

Here’s the 2014 JAMA guideline.

SPRINT, published late last year, led in your cite for the NEJM editorial board to conclude

So, first, not quite understanding how that study, from November 2015, which suggests that people at high cardiovascular risk should have a systolic goal of less than 120 mm Hg, means that your practice of aiming for under 120 on all is appropriate.

Second, response is typically modest to a single med: 9 mm on average for systolic and 4 mm for diastolic. The hypothetical I responded to of getting down from treatment levels to 110/65 on one med is still quite eyebrow raising. That editorial about SPRINT seems to emphasize how difficult hitting their high cardiovascular risk goal is, begining with multiple meds and monthly support/monitoring/adjustment as needed.

Third, indeed he could be blessed with great BP and the number alone is not impossible, but 110 systolic is in the lowest quartile for a healthy 17 year old boy. The 50%ile for his age is 144 systolic and 88 diastolic. What fraction of those you see Trump’s age hit your stated ideal?

Agreed the letter is complete BS.

Well, that’s just silly. I mean, the letter doesn’t even mention the size of his hands.

Clinton obviously was aware of her age and health going into this. And she knew she might have been facing somebody like Rubio or Walker. So I’m sure she’s prepared a solid defense against accusations about her health if it becomes a significant issue.

Hey! He has the GREATEST blood pressure in the world!

lol!

that was nicely put

Physician and author 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

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.

In the comments section on that site, someone noted that the good Doctor Bernstein signed his letter with “FACG” (Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology). Upon checking, they found that the doctor is not a fellow of the ACG, and is not even a member. This doctor seems to either be a tad on the shady site, or someone else made this letter up out of whole cloth. I wonder if that is even his real signature?

At first glance, I read that as FACOG (Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology).

:smack:

Or simply a forgery.

The letter read to me like a high school student trying to get out of, or into gym class.

FWIW, Clinton’s blood pressure was 100/65. I suspect Trump may be upset to find out that he does not have the best blood pressure.

BTWthis is what a medical letter should look like.

Yup. The only thing that would make it seem phonier is if it said at the bottom ‘signed, Donald’s Doctor’, a la ‘signed Epstein’s Mom’/Welcome Back Kotter.

Well that’s good news! I feel sorry for Trump, who apparently tested positive for cancer and cardiac disease in his tests (according to his own doctor). Poor guy.

It occurs to me that “To Who My Concern” is the kind of typo one might make if they’re used to saying or hearing the phrase “To whom I concern” but not with writing it out. I wonder if that’s a phrase the Tangerine Nightmare is known to use?