Joe Biden is the oldest particular person ever to be US president. (File)
Washington:
President Joe Biden was declared “match for obligation” by his physician Thursday after the ultimate annual medical check-up earlier than he’s anticipated to declare he is operating for re-election in 2024, when he will likely be 82.
The keenly awaited report after in depth testing discovered some comparatively minor points, however mentioned Biden was clear of great bodily and neurological issues.
“President Biden stays a wholesome, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who’s match to efficiently execute the duties of the Presidency, to incorporate these of as Chief Govt, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, mentioned in a letter revealed by the White Home.
“The President stays match for obligation, and totally executes all of his duties with none exemptions or lodging.”
Biden, the oldest particular person ever to be US president, spent the morning finishing a collection of exams that he started final yr at Walter Reed Nationwide Navy Medical Heart, a fancy within the Washington suburbs with a presidential facility.
He has not declared a reelection bid however is extensively anticipated to take action quickly, with the marketing campaign beginning to warmth up. On the Republican aspect, thus far the frontrunner is former president Donald Trump, whom Biden beat within the tumultuous 2020 election.
Biden is more likely to run on his heavyweight political file after two years wherein he steered the nation previous the Covid pandemic, ended the US battle in Afghanistan and rallied Western nations opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nonetheless, questions round his age and fixed Republican insinuations that he’s mentally incompetent will probably be a significant through-line in the course of the marketing campaign.
Wholesome Habits
O’Connor’s letter painted a largely glowing image of a president who advantages from wholesome dwelling habits.
“The President doesn’t use any tobacco merchandise, doesn’t drink alcohol, and he continues to work out at the least 5 days every week,” the letter mentioned.
Biden measures six ft (1.83 meters) and weighs 178 kilos (practically 80.7 kg).
The report notes that Biden suffered Covid-19 in 2022 after which a rebound an infection, however given he was vaccinated and boosted the signs have been gentle and he “has not skilled any residual signs which can be thought of ‘lengthy Covid.'”
Two points famous within the earlier annual examination, in November 2021, stay principally unchanged, O’Connor mentioned.
One is the gastroesophageal reflux which causes him to cough typically, and the opposite is a stiff strolling movement attributable to “put on and tear” in his backbone.
“The President’s gait stays stiff, however has not worsened since final yr,” O’Connor mentioned.
The physician reported that “an especially detailed neurological examination was once more reassuring in that there have been no findings which might be according to any cerebellar or different central neurological dysfunction, similar to stroke, a number of sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis.”
Referring to Biden spending “a great deal of time within the solar in his youth,” O’Connor wrote that the president has been handled recurrently for elimination of localized, non-melanoma pores and skin cancers.
“One small lesion on the President’s chest was excised immediately and despatched for conventional biopsy,” he mentioned.
Does Age Matter?
Whereas routine, Thursday’s bodily was intently watched, with Democratic leaders insisting they may stand behind Biden if he runs once more, however polls exhibiting little enthusiasm from their voters.
A Reuters/Ipsos ballot in February discovered greater than half of Democrats imagine Biden is just too previous to hold on.
Nikki Haley, a 51-year-old Republican who has simply entered the 2024 race, referred to as Wednesday for psychological health exams for any elected official over 75. That may additionally apply to Trump, 76, underneath whom she served as UN ambassador.
Requested in interviews concerning the age issue, Biden factors to his achievements in workplace and says merely: “Watch me.”
Throughout Biden’s final checkup, he had a colonoscopy underneath common anesthesia and transferred his powers for one hour and 25 minutes to Vice President Kamala Harris, making her the primary girl in US historical past to serve briefly as appearing president.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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