Iowa – Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is in “overall very good health,” according to a medical history released Thursday by his campaign in the days leading up to Monday’s Iowa caucuses.
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A one-page letter released by Sanders’ campaign said the 74-year-old Vermont senator had been treated in the past for ailments like gout, high cholesterol and laryngitis. He underwent hernia surgery earlier this year but is in good health, his doctor said.
“You are in overall very good health and active in your professional work, and recreational lifestyle without limitation,” wrote Sanders’ doctor Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress. He wrote that he has treated Sanders for 26 years.
If elected, Sanders would be the oldest president to assume office, surpassing Ronald Reagan who was 69 when he entered the White House. Sanders is about six years old than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who released her medical records in July. Her doctor said at the time she was in “excellent physical condition.”
Sanders has said his age would not affect his ability to serve in the White House and frequently points to his background as a cross-country runner in high school as a sign of his fitness and athletic prowess.
His doctor wrote in the letter that Sanders’ “general physical examination was normal” and he has no history of cardiovascular disease. Sanders underwent an elective outpatient hernia repair procedure in late November at George Washington University Hospital in Washington and was back at work in the Senate the next day.
He has my vote!!