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President Obama is said to suffering from high cholesterol, but despite this doctors say his health is generally good.
U.S. President Barack Obama, surrounded by health care personnel, speaks about healthcare reform from the East Room of the White House in Washington March 3, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
The Commander in Chief underwent his first medical checkup since becoming president on Sunday. But although he smokes the occasional cigarette, takes anti-inflammatory medication to relieve chronic tendinitis in his left knee, and was measured with a cholesterol rating of 209, the president was declared to be in excellent health and fit for duty.
Obama's cholesterol levels have crept up to a borderline high, and he should alter his diet accordingly, according to a report the White House released after the 90-minute examination at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
The president's total cholesterol was up to 209, with his HDL (good cholesterol) at 62 and LDL (bad cholesterol) at 138. Borderline high cholesterol starts at 200, with LDL considered borderline high at 130.
As the president strolled swiftly back to the White House on Monday morning, minutes after speaking before the Chamber of Commerce, he smiled at reporters and joked, "I wanna make sure I'm walking off some of that cholesterol."
According to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, the high cholesterol was as a result of eating too many cheeseburgers and desserts. "You guys thought he carried arugula (an aromatic salad green also known as rocket or roquette) in his pocket to snack on," Gibbs joked with reporters Monday.
As regards his smoking Gibbs said, "He understands that what he struggles with is not a good thing for his children to see or anybody's children to see."
Obama has talked about his struggles to quit smoking in the past and even promised his wife Michelle that he would give up a habit of about eight cigarettes a day. Last year the president said, "Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker? No. I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where . . . there are times where I mess up."
Michelle Obama has never smoked or apparently had much sympathy for her husbands apparent inability to quit. "I hate it," she told the CBS news programme 60 Minutes in 2007. In that interview she also appeared to believe that he had stopped smoking and said proudly, "I outed him ... I'm the one who outed him on the smoking. That was one of my prerequisites for, you know, entering this race."
The president was also checked for and found free of colon cancer with a virtual colonoscopy, a scan that avoids the more invasive visual inspection with a camera device that is passed into the large intestine.
In addition the report said Obama is 6 foot 1 inches high (1.85 meters) and weighs 180 pounds (81.6 Kg) in shoes and exercise clothing. His pulse rate is 56, which is considered good, as is his blood pressure which was measured at 105 over 62. The doctor said Obamas vision was 20/20 in both eyes for both distance and near vision. |
