Donald Trump is all set to take office on Friday as the oldest incoming president in U.S. history – a burger-gobbling, exercise-averse 70-year-old who can expect to live 15 more years, according to actuarial data.
It is reported that Trump has never smoked tobacco. He doesn’t drink alcohol. And as a wealthy American, he has presumably spent much of his life with access to excellent health care.
Given that the 45th president will be exposed to extraordinary stress levels, what else could affect his health and capabilities to respond to the challenges of office?
Trump’s parents did well for people born near the turn of the last century. His mother, Mary Ann McLeod Trump, was 88 when she died. His father, Fred, died at 93 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for about five years.
The roles of diet and physical activity have long been acknowledged in healthful aging, often in protecting against heart disease and cancer, the two biggest killers of Americans. On these issues, there is some pertinent information from the president-elect’s longtime doctor.
Bornstein’s letter said Trump takes a statin to lower his cholesterol. So it is difficult to judge his cholesterol level of 169, his high-density lipoprotein level of 63 or his low-density lipoprotein level of 94. All are in the normal range. Trump also takes a low dose of aspirin, the letter noted.
Trump’s latest electrocardiogram and chest X-ray were conducted in April 2016 and also were “normal,” according to Bornstein.”Exercise is the best anti-aging medicine,” said Eric Verdin, chief executive of the Buck Institute.
Trump’s early-morning Twitter posts are among his most emotional, Barzilai noted. “I would say there is evidence, at least by tweet, that Trump is not sleeping enough,” he said.Trump, by contrast, has reaped the health benefits of his birth and circumstance.
