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Health and Medical History of President Barack ObamaPresident #44: 2009-2017
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Lived 1961-Now
2020
1776
 Revolutionary War1776-1783War of 18121812-1815Mexican-American War1846-1848Civil War1861-1865Spanish-American War1898-1899World War 11917-1918World War 21941-1945Korean War1950-1953Viet Nam War1964-1975Desert Storm1990-1991Bush's War2001-Now |
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| This style... | ... means the event occurred while President. |
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 childhood infections |
Had measles and chicken pox while living in Indonesia
1a.
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infectious exposures |
Exposed to multiple animals while living in Indonesia, including a New Guinean ape, chickens,
ducks, birds, dogs, and crocodiles
1b.
He also was exposed to human diseases: scurvy, polio, leprosy, and a man with a gaping hole
where his nose should be (syphilis?)
1c.
Had an "endless series of shots" before going to Indonesia for the first time
1d.
Comment:
Who made these diagnoses?
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  minor childhood travails |
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 forearm laceration |
Ran into barbed wire while mudsliding in Indonesia. One of his forearms was lacerated from
wrist to elbow, and required 20 stitches. "An ugly scar" remains.
1g
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 cigarettes |
Obama was smoking cigarettes in high school
1h.
He continued smoking afterwards
1i.
He talked about quitting in 1988, but this may have been in jest
1j.
He has [tried to] quit several times over the years
MORE
2.
While running for President in 2008, he said he would quit, and that he was chewing Nicorette.
His wife disclosed that, in exchange for giving her permission for him to run, she required
that he quit
3.
According to a February 2008 report, he quit smoking "several weeks" earlier
3.
Comment:
Obama's total exposure to cigarettes, measured in "pack-years," has not been released.
Any competent physician would elicit this information from the patient. It is so important
that some physicians have called it a new "vital sign" (that's silly, but it makes
the point). The quantified smoking exposure is important, among other reasons, in estimating
the risk of various diseases. Although it appears as if the information was deliberately suppressed,
I hope a reader can supply a pointer to the data.
In reports of his physical examinations while President, Obama's tobacco usage
was described as "smoking cessation efforts" in 2010, "tobacco free" in 2011,
and "remains tobacco free" in 2014 and 2016 4.
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 drug use |
Used marijuana and "blow" (cocaine) in high school. He was dissuaded from injecting
heroin by the fear that an air bubble might be injected, which would travel to his heart and
stop it
1h.
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 traveler's diarrhea |
Developed diarrhea while visiting Kenya, circa 1988. A relative gave him an herbal preparation
as treatment
1k.
Obama did not report if it was effective.
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 snores? |
Obama describes his half-sister Auma saying to someone: "My brother, I think he snores"
1l.
From the context of the story, it is possible the half-sister was making this up, as a joke.
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head cold |
Developed in Dallas in late February 2008
5.
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physician's letter 2008 |
While running for the Presidency in 2008, Obama released a one-page letter from his physician,
Dr. David L. Scheiner,
summarizing 21 years of medical history
MORE
2.
The letter offers reassuring statements about Obama's blood pressure, cholesterol profile,
electrocardiogram, and basic blood tests, including prostate specific antigen.
Comment:
There is nothing inherently wrong with summarizing 21 years of medical history on one page
-- if the patient has been healthy. Even so, this letter leaves a bad taste in Dr. Zebra's
mouth, for several reasons: (1) It is undated. Putting a date on a document is as automatic
as breathing for a physician. Why was there no date? (2) The characterization of "intermittent"
smoking is unprofessional. Physicians speak in terms of "pack-years" of smoking.
(3) The statement that Obama maintains a "good intake" of fluids rings false. Except
for patients with various diseases, there is no call to measure fluid intake. It sounds like
the physician was trying to fill space.
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  exercises |
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 height & weight |
| Before Presidency | During Presidency |
|---|---|
 1275 reviews
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 159 reviews
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a p.36 b p.34 c pp.37, 38 d p.31 e p.35 f p.74 g pp.48-49 h p.93 i pp.100, 188, 255, 304 j p.430 k pp.392, 393, 394 l p.349 m p.22
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| Comment: Dr. David L. Scheiner became Obama's physician in 1987. A scanned copy of the letter is available from the New York Times. The letter is undated, but the Atlantic Magazine posted its copy of the letter on May 29, 2008. |
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| Comment: At: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/11/AR2007021101336.html |
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| Comment: At: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/barack-bowl/ |
