Three months after suffering a heart attack, Sen. Bernie Sanders is in both good physical and mental health, his doctors say.
In letters released by the Sanders campaign Monday, three of the senator’s doctors gave him a clean bill of health as he continues to campaign around the country in his bid to be the next president of the United States.
“You are in good health currently and you have been engaging vigorously in the rigors of your campaign, travel, and other scheduled activities without any limitation,” Brian Monahan, attending physician of the U.S. Congress wrote.
Philip Ades, director of cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and Martin LeWinter, the senator’s personal cardiologist, also vouched for his health.
Sanders, 78, had a heart attack that required a procedure to allow proper blood flow in early October and kept him off the campaign trail for two weeks.
With the Vermont independent’s recent heart issues and his age approaching 80, there has been an added focus on presidential candidates’ age and health during the race for 2020.
However, Sanders doctors report he has made a full recovery from his heart attack.
In December, Sanders underwent physical testing at the University of Vermont Medical Center which found there was no evidence of reduced blood flow to his heart or symptoms that would cause Sanders to stop exercising.
“Mr. Sanders was able to exercise to a level that is approximately 50% higher than other men his age with a similar diagnosis,” Ades wrote in his letter.
“I see no reason he cannot continue campaigning without limitation and, should he be elected, I am confident he has the mental and physical stamina to fully undertake the rigors of the presidency,” LeWinter added in his own letter.
Monahan wrote that Sanders has never had symptoms of heart failure before October and that now, after recent testing, there is “no significant heart rhythm abnormality.”
Sanders is currently taking lisinopril, a medication used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure; atorvastatin, which helps manage cholesterol; clopidogrel, a common blood thinner; and levothyroxine, which treats an underactive thyroid gland.
Sanders past medical conditions include gout, a form of arthritis; a “mild” case of high cholesterol; diverticulitis, inflammation of the digestive tract; an underactive thyroid condition; and lower back issues.
In November, Sanders had a full ear, nose and throat evaluation for his vocal cords after he was forced to cut several campaign stops short due to a sore throat. It was found to be nothing but normal hoarseness, according to the doctor’s letters.
In addition to Sanders, three other Democratic presidential nominees are in their 70s. Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, and former Vice President Joe Biden are both 77, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is 70. President Donald Trump is currently 73 years old.
Warren, on Dec. 6, became the first of the candidates in their 70s to release a doctor’s report, which said the senator is in “excellent health.”
Warren’s physician wrote that the Massachusetts senator’s only known medical condition is an underactive thyroid, which she treats with medication, the Associated Press reported.
Bloomberg, who joined the presidential race in late November, released a letter from his doctor on Dec. 12 that proclaimed the 77-year-old is in “outstanding health” while also noting specific conditions he has been treated for in the past, according to the Associated Press.
The health report from Sanders’ doctors closely mirrors the letter he released when he ran for president in 2016.
At the time Monahan wrote the Vermont senator was in good health but has had a variety of medical conditions over the years, including a hernia surgery in 2015 as well as the removal of “superficial skin tumors” and a cyst from his vocal cords.
In October, Sanders said that besides his recent hospitalization, his health has stayed consistent with the 2016 doctor’s report.“Nothing much has changed except that I had a heart attack,” Sanders told the Associated Press. “So, I don’t think it’ll be all too revelatory.”
