United States President Joe Biden stops in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Aug.
Roberto Schmidt | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden “remains operational after his first physical exam in office,” his doctor Kevin O’Connor said Friday.
However, O’Connor noted in a health report that during a routine colonoscopy performed during Friday’s exam, a “single 3mm, benign-looking polyp” was removed from Biden’s colon that required anesthesia.
The evaluation of the polyp should be completed next week.
Read the full summary of Biden’s medical exam here.
O’Connor said in his report that Biden experienced an increase in the frequency and severity of throat clearing while speaking. The doctor said that his belief that acid reflux is causing this problem was confirmed by the examination and consultation with experts.
Another problem that O’Connor highlighted was Biden’s “ambulatory gait,” which the doctor said was “noticeably stiffer and less fluid than a year ago”.
Much of that stiffness is due to wear and tear on Biden’s spine, as well as a limp from a fracture in his right foot last year and “a mile sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet,” O’Connor said.
The president’s weight was 184 pounds and his heart rate was 72, the doctor said.
Biden, who will turn 79 on Saturday, is the oldest person ever to be sworn in, and because of this, his health is a voter issue.
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“President Biden remains a healthy, sturdy 78-year-old man capable of successfully performing the duties of the presidency, including those of chief executive, head of state and commander in chief,” wrote O’Connor.
His physical exam was held at the Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the traditional hospital for the American presidents.
While drugged for his colonoscopy, Biden transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris, which at times made her the first female incumbent president in US history. He resumed his role as president before noon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki later said.
Biden’s most recent public medical report was released in late 2019 when he was a presidential candidate.
This report states that Biden is healthy and fit, but is also being treated with medication for several age-related illnesses. These included high cholesterol, mild heart rhythm disorder (AFib), and seasonal allergies.
The 2019 report also found that Biden occasionally suffered from acid reflux, which he treated with over-the-counter medications.
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The results of Biden’s most recent test are likely to be scrutinized by Republicans and Conservative media presenters who for years have built up a false narrative about Biden as a sick old man unable to rule. To do this, they have taken up Biden’s lifelong stuttering to suggest that his occasional stumbling across words is a sign of dementia.
In reality, people who spend time with Biden, including senior Senate Republicans, say he is as astute and informed as anyone else on his staff.
Biden also takes care of his health.
“I have a treadmill and a peloton bike and a couple of weights. And I try to work out for myself every morning. That gets me going, ”Biden said on the podcast of his 2020 presidential campaign.
However, following his election, Biden was reportedly banned from bringing his own Peloton bike into the White House due to safety concerns about the connectivity of the bike.
It wasn’t until June that Biden was caught cycling with his family near their home in Rehoboth, Del. bea, ch photographed.
United States President Joe Biden waves from his bicycle as he rides at Cape Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on June 3, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Biden’s decision to temporarily transfer power to Harris mirrored that of former President George W. Bush, who transferred power to then-Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2002 and 2007 while undergoing routine colonoscopies.
Biden’s immediate predecessor, former President Donald Trump, 75, reportedly turned down anesthesia for an alleged colonoscopy precisely because he did not want to transfer power to then-Vice President Mike Pence, according to a memoir by former White House adviser Stephanie Grisham .
Christina Wilkie reported from Washington, Dan Mangan from New York.
