Biden’s Health?…How ABOUT Donald J. Trump?

Louise Aronson: “On the surface, Trump seems stronger and less vulnerable than Biden did. Yet looks do not necessarily reflect risk for illness and disability. A hallmark of advanced age is its variability: One person may be physically powerful but have dementia; another might have hearing loss but no cognitive changes; a third could have heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol—physiologic time bombs that increase a person’s risk of major events such as heart attacks, strokes, and death.”

“And Donald Trump has lived in a way that raises his risk for heart and other serious diseases as he ages. For years, he has been overweight or obese, as measured by his BMI—which doesn’t distinguish between lean, muscular weight, and fat, meaning he is likely even less healthy than his abnormal BMI suggests. His gait, though better than Biden’s, demonstrates the same weakness of many lower extremity muscle groups, and his history of eschewing formal, particularly muscle-building, exercise means that his risk for falls and frailty is increasing more quickly than they would with resistance and balance training—recent signs that he might be adopting healthier habits notwithstanding. Equally important, fat on a body indicates fat in and around the body’s critical organs and blood vessels, including the brain and heart.”

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Nearly half of Americans believe President Donald Trump is not being transparent about his health, according to a new poll.

The latest YouGov/Economist poll, conducted between May 23 and 26 among 1,660 adults, found that 45 percent of respondents felt Trump had been “not at all” or “not very” transparent about his health, while 42 percent said the opposite. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Why It Matters

The findings highlight a critical challenge for the president as he seeks to maintain public trust and transparency amid questions about his health.

At 78 years and seven months, Trump was the oldest person to be sworn in as president of the United States, and his inauguration followed an election where concerns about the health and age of presidential candidates were at the forefront.

There have been ongoing concerns about Trump’s physical and mental health, as dementia has been reported to run in his family. However, the White House physician said in April that the president was in “excellent cognitive and physical health.”….

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image…AP News