Alright, Bernie's health letters are being litigated again so now's as good a time as any to go over Biden and Warren's health letters. That's right, health LETTERS, because health summaries are standard practice while records are unintelligible for laymen. Let's begin w/Biden 1/
Biden released a health letter from Dr. O'Connor who is the family physician that has been treating him since 2009. The letter can be found here:
go.joebiden.com/page/-/CiU2iAa…
Again, this is a health summary, not a dump of medical records. They are a normal part of a doctor's job 2/
go.joebiden.com/page/-/CiU2iAa…
Again, this is a health summary, not a dump of medical records. They are a normal part of a doctor's job 2/
Dr. O'Connor starts with Biden's health history and whoo, this is pretty funny. People have been freaking out over Bernie being on Plavix for his stents when Biden actually has atrial fibrillation and is on Eliquis, an anticoagulant blood thinner. There's a big difference! 3/ 
Biden has persistent atrial fibrillation. What does this mean? A-fib is a heart condition caused by abnormal electrical conduction. Your heart beats in a very specific order to pump blood to your lungs and your body. With a-fib, the abnormal conduction disorganizes the beats 4/
That abnormal rhythm has several consequences. Sometimes, the heart beats way too fast and can't pump blood properly. Another other concern is blood that's not flowing properly tends to clot, particularly on heart valves, which can then later break off and cause a stroke 5/
Abnormal blood flow through the heart can also cause the heart to strain. The heart is a muscle and, like any other muscle, it can become enlarged which impairs flow and causes heart failure. Thankfully, Biden does not have any signs of heart failure on his last echocardiogram 6/
Suffice it to say, a-fib is a serious condition that has to be managed carefully which Biden's appears to have been. He's on a blood thinner (Eliquis) to prevent clots and strokes, has never had to have a pacemaker placed, doesn't have heart failure, and has no symptoms 7/
Speaking of Eliquis, this medication is a powerful anti-coagulant blood thinner Biden has been on for many years. It is a much more powerful blood thinner than Bernie's Plavix which is only an anti-platelet medication (think super Aspirin). 8/
The rest of Biden's current medical issues are fairly mundane. Like Bernie, he is also on a statin for cholesterol and an acid reducer for heartburn. Neither Biden nor Bernie disclose their statin dosages but both have well controlled cholesterol levels which we'll get to 9/
Dr. O'Connor now goes on to Biden's history of medical events. Did you know Biden had TWO brain aneurysm requiring surgery in 1988? One of them even burst and caused bleeding. Seems like as far as health histories go, this would be something that should come up but never does /10
I want to be fair to Biden here and point out that this was decades ago and since then, he's shown no signs of significant brain damage secondary to the bleed. Whatever the extent of the injury, the doctors caught it in time to minimize any permanent consequences 11/
He also notably had a blood clot in his leg due to prolonged immobilization that then traveled to his lungs. This can be life threatening but was thankfully caught and treated early. As Dr. O'Connor points out, he hasn't had any repeat events and anticoagulants were stopped 12/
That is, until he developed a-fib and long term Eliquis was restarted. Recurrent DVT and PE clots are another reason to be on permanent anti-coagulation, but Biden was cleared of any clotting disorders. His ongoing Eliquis greatly reduces the chance he'll have another clot 13/
The majority of the rest of Biden's history isn't too exciting. He had non-cancer related prostate surgery, respiratory allergy issues, and his gallbladder removed. Pretty standard stuff and not at all surprising given his age. Interestingly, his last colonoscopy was in 2008 14/
According to the American Cancer Society, colonoscopies are recommended every 10 years, sooner if you've ever had any concerning findings, up through the age of 75. Beyond that, it's an individualized decision based on the patient and their life expectancy up to the age of 85 15/
Unfortunately, we don't know when Bernie's last colonoscopy was. It's not mentioned in his med letter, but we can infer that like Biden, he's never had any serious findings (yes, this is a reasonable conclusion from omission because any worthwhile doc would have included it) 16/
I bring this up because I'm legitimately surprised Biden didn't have another colonoscopy in 2018 if he was anticipating running for president. Side note, if this causes either Bernie or Biden to run out and get an immediate colonoscopy, that would be hysterical 🤣 17/
Moving on, it should also be noted that Biden has had multiple non-melanoma skin cancers. This is not a cause for concern as long as he continues to get regular fully body skin checks, probably every 6 months or so. If you're over 65, get yours annually!! 18/
Next up, physical exam. Biden's blood pressure is a smidge high. New guidelines recommend a target below 130/80. Keep in mind a single BP reading is not conclusive for poor control. BP ranges throughout the day, so it takes multiple readings for a diagnosis of hypertension 19/
Biden is also NOT on blood pressure meds, and I wouldn't start him on one just because of this one reading. Still, it's certainly worth noting. Also seen on exam is his "irregular rhythm" which alludes to his a-fib. Lentigos and actinic skin changes are due to sun damage 20/
Finally, we get to labs which are all normal. No diabetes, no anemia, no kidney or liver dysfunction, no nutritional deficiencies, good cholesterol levels, no signs of inflammation. Nothing comes up that's immediately concerning or as a red flag. 21/
And that's it! To be clear, I did this breakdown not to make a prediction of who would win in a pushup contest between Bernie and Biden but because there is STILL a lot of misinformation going around about the health of the democratic candidates 22/
I take Dr. O'Connor at his word that Biden is a fairly healthy individual given his age. However, I also feel like the media has given him a complete pass for some of the more concerning health problems he's had. And yes, a history of aneurysm and a-fib are very relevant 23/
Next, I will go over Warren's health letter but I don't know if I'll get to it today. Writing up these dissections are a bit taxing. I hope you learned something though. If you haven't seen it already, here's my breakdown of Bernie's letters: 24/
Until next time, stay healthy out there! Wear sunblock and drink water!
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Correction, I misread this part, it looks like Biden DID have at least one more clean colonoscopy since 2008 though we don't know when
