Doctors after extensive testing: Biden is healthy and fit to perform duties

(Patria) - Doctors have declared US President Joe Biden (80) healthy and „fit for duty“ after a physical examination that included removal of a lesion on his chest and giving assurances that he has no symptoms of long COVID after last year's battle with the virus.

„The President remains fit for duty and fully executes all his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,“ said White House physician Kevin O'Connor in a summary of the health check-up, Reuters reports. The examination was closely monitored as Biden prepares for an expected election race for his second term in 2024. The summary states that Biden had no symptoms of „long COVID“ and that his stiff gait had not worsened since his last check-up in November 2021.

Biden said his physical test went well. „Everything went really well... Thank God for small favors,“ he told NBC News.

Biden's three-hour session with doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, was his second comprehensive check-up since taking office in January 2021.

Biden takes the statin Crestor to maintain low cholesterol levels, an anticoagulant in response to atrial fibrillation that remains asymptomatic, and medication for seasonal allergies and acid reflux, the summary states. Several small skin growths were removed from his face and head using liquid nitrogen, and „a small lesion on the President's chest was excised today and sent for a traditional biopsy,“ O'Connor said. Results are pending.

The test revealed that Biden's weight dropped from 83.4 kilograms in 2021 to 80.7. His body mass index was 24.1 compared to 25.0 in 2021, and blood pressure was 126/78 compared to 120/70 in 2021.

The summary does not mention whether Biden underwent any cognitive tests sometimes given to people his age.

O'Connor said Biden's back stiffness is the result of significant spinal arthritis.

„The President's gait remains stiff, but has not worsened since last year,“ he said. Biden, the oldest person ever to serve as US President, has dismissed questions about his age, but polls show voters are concerned about his ability to serve another four years if he wins in 2024. Asked about concerns over Biden's age, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: „This is a President who works day in and day out, you know, in a grueling manner with a grueling schedule, and delivers results.“

About three-quarters of Americans, including more than half of Democrats and an overwhelming majority of Republicans, say Biden is too old to work in government, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from February 6 to 13. Most Democratic respondents said the President remains mentally sharp, but about half of them said he cannot withstand the physical toll of the presidency.

Biden does not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco and exercises five times a week, the doctor noted. Biden would be 86 by the end of a future second term, making him 13 years older than the average life expectancy of an American male, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 2020.

Biden said in a recent interview with PBS that all Americans concerned about his age should „watch how“ I perform presidential duties. First Lady Jill Biden (71) had cancerous skin lesions removed last month.