DoctorZebra.com has referenced Obama's maladies and
conditions,
here:
Childhood infections. Had measles and chicken pox
while living in Indonesia. Infectious exposures -- Exposed to
multiple animals while living in Indonesia, including a New
Guinean ape, chickens, ducks, birds, dogs, and crocodiles.
He also was exposed to human diseases: scurvy, polio, leprosy,
and a man with gaping hole where nose should be (syphilis?).
Had an "endless series of shots" before going to Indonesia for
the first time. Comment: Who made these diagnoses?
Minor childhood travails Developed an "egg-size lump on the
side of my head" after another boy struck him with a rock.
Acne.
Forearm laceration. Ran into barbed wire while
mudsliding in Indonesia. One of his forearms was lacerated
from wrist to elbow, and required 20 stitches. "An ugly
scar" remains.
Cigarettes Obama was smoking cigarettes in
high school. He continued smoking afterwards. He
talked about quitting in 1988, but this may have been in jest.
He has [tried to] quit several times over the years.
While running for President in 2008, he said he would quit, and
that he was chewing Nicorette. His wife disclosed that, in
exchange for giving her permission for him to run, she required
that he quit. According to a February 2008 report, he quit
smoking "several weeks" earlier.
Comment: Obama's
total exposure to cigarettes, measured in "pack-years," has not
been released. Any competent physician would elicit this
information from the patient. It is so important that some
physicians have called it a new "vital sign" (that's silly, but
it makes the point). The quantified smoking exposure is
important, among other reasons, in estimating the risk of
various diseases. Although it appears as if the
information was deliberately suppressed, I hope a reader can
supply a pointer to the data.
Drug use Used
marijuana and "blow" (cocaine) in high school. He was
dissuaded from injecting heroin by the fear that an air bubble
might be injected, which would travel to his heart and stop it.
Traveler's diarrhea Developed diarrhea while visiting Kenya,
circa 1988. A relative gave him an herbal preparation as
treatment. Obama did not report if it was effective.
Snores? Obama describes his half-sister Auma saying to
someone: "My brother, I think he snores." From the
context of the story, it is possible the half-sister was making
this up, as a joke.
Head cold Developed in Dallas in late
February 2008.
Physician's letter 2008 While running for
the Presidency in 2008, Obama released a one-page letter from
his physician, summarizing 21 years of medical history [More].
The letter offers reassuring statements about Obama's blood
pressure, cholesterol profile, electrocardiogram, and basic
blood tests, including prostate specific antigen.
Comment: There is nothing inherently wrong with summarizing 21
years of medical history on one page -- if the patient has been
healthy. Even so, this letter leaves a bad taste in Dr. Zebra's
mouth, for several reasons:
(1) It is undated. Putting a
date on a document is as automatic as breathing for a physician.
Why was there no date?
(2) The characterization of
"intermittent" smoking is unprofessional. Physicians speak in
terms of "pack-years" of smoking.
(3) The statement that
Obama maintains a "good intake" of fluids rings false. Except
for patients with various diseases, there is no call to measure
fluid intake. It sounds like the physician was trying to fill
space.
Exercises Is conscientious about exercising,
"often jogging three miles," according to a 2008 letter from his
physician [More]. Most of the press reports during the 2008
campaign, however, centered on his basketball playing. He was on
his high school's basketball team.
Height & weight:
Obama is 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs 165 pounds. He wears
size 13 1/2 bowling shoes.
Weighed 8 lb 2 oz at birth
[3m].
Writes with his left hand. [Observed on
inauguration day.]
Note from Obama's doctor here: