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Sanders' Health Is 'Very Good,' Doctor Says

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a town hall forum hosted by CNN on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a town hall forum hosted by CNN on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Four days before the Iowa caucuses, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign has released a doctor's letter declaring Sanders "in overall very good health."

The letter, from Dr. Brian Monahan, Congress' attending physician, states that Sanders' last physical was "normal." The exam included a blood pressure exam, cholesterol count and electrocardiogram.

At 74, Sanders would be the oldest president inaugurated in American history. His main Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who's 68, would be the second-oldest. President Ronald Reagan was sworn in in 1981 a couple of weeks shy of his 70th birthday.

The letter lists previous medical conditions Sanders has sought treatment for, including gout, "mild" levels of high cholesterol and acid reflux-related laryngitis. "You have no history of cardiovascular disease," Monahan wrote.

The doctor's note was slightly less detailed than the note the Clinton campaign released last summer. That note referenced the concussion she suffered during the end of her State Department tenure, as well as "seasonal pollen allergies."

Both Democrats' letters were far more traditional than the letter Donald Trump's campaign released in December, which proclaimed Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected" president.

Read the full Sanders letter below:

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.