Doctor says Obama in excellent health
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is in excellent health and fit to serve as U.S. president, his doctor said on Thursday.
Obama's personal physician said the 46-year-old senator from Illinois had no major medical complaints. He was a cigarette smoker but has quit several times and currently is using Nicorette gum to break the habit.
"Senator Barack Obama is in overall good physical and mental health needed to maintain the resiliency required in the office of President," Obama's doctor, David L. Scheiner, said in a statement.
The campaign released the medical report one week after Obama's Republican rival John McCain gave reporters access to 1,173 pages of health records. The documents detailed the 71-year-old Arizona senator's struggle with skin cancer and said he in good enough health to serve as U.S. president if he wins the November election.
Scheiner, Obama's physician since 1987, said he has seen Obama regularly for medical checkups during the past 21 years. Obama has only reported minor problems such as upper respiratory infections, skin rashes and minor injuries.
"His family history is pertinent for his mother's death from ovarian cancer and grandfather who died of prostate cancer," Scheiner said.
Blood tests that screened Obama for prostate cancer were "very good," he said.
Smoking raises the risk of stroke, cancer and heart disease. Experts say it takes decades for the heightened risks to return to normal after quitting.
Obama's last medical checkup was in January 2007. Scheiner said Obama reported no complaints and said he exercised regularly -- often jogging 3 miles at a time.
"On physical examination, his blood pressure was 90/60 and pulse 60/minute," Scheiner said. "His build was lean and muscular with no excess body fat. His physical examination was completely normal."
Laboratory tests, including a heart EKG, were all normal and showed Obama had low cholesterol levels.
"In short, his examination showed him to be in excellent health," Scheiner said in a one-page letter released by the campaign.
(Editing by Bill Trott)
