Key Details of Hillary Clinton's Health Record, Explained

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Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has released her medical records. (Photo: AP Photo)

Just days after promising to release more information about Hillary Clinton’s health, her team has provided a detailed letter from the presidential candidate’s doctor on her physical well-being and medications.

The letter, written by Lisa Bardack, MD, chair of internal medicine at CareMount Medical, paints a picture of a 68-year-old woman in good health, who has had some minor medical issues over the past few months.

Here are the highlights:

  • Clinton takes Coumadin, a blood thinner.

  • She has had several allergy flare-ups over the past year, “a typical pattern for most of her life,” Bardack writes.

  • She had an ear infection and sinusitis in January. Doctors treated it with antibiotics and steroids, and placed a myringotomy tube in her left ear to help alleviate her symptoms.

  • Her recent headline-making bout of pneumonia began as a low-grade fever, congestion, and fatigue that progressed. As a result, she’s taking Levaquin, an antibiotic.

  • She has a coronary calcium score (used to predict someone’s future risk of a heart attack) of zero.

  • She’s currently taking Armor Thyroid, a medication that helps with low thyroid hormone levels, Levaquin, Coumadin, and Clarinex (for allergies).

  • She’s up to date on immunizations, including Prevnar and Pneumovax, designed to prevent disease caused by strains of the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.

  • She visits the dentist regularly.

  • Her cholesterol level is normal.

  • Her mammogram and breast ultrasounds are normal.

  • These are her vital signs: Blood pressure of 100/70, heart rate of 70, respiratory rate of 18, temperature of 97.8 and pulse oximetry of 99%.

“My overall impression is that Mrs. Clinton has remained healthy and has not developed new medical conditions this year other than a sinus and ear infection and her recently diagnosed pneumonia,” Bardack says. “She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest. She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States.”

Sherry Ross, MD, a women’s health expert at California’s Providence Saint John’s Health Center, agrees. “I think she’s in excellent health for her age,” she tells Yahoo Beauty.

Clinton’s prescriptions all seem normal for someone of her age, Ross says. Coumadin is typically used to prevent blood clots and can lower a person’s risk of heart attack or stroke, Ross says. Armour Thyroid is used to treat hypothyroidism and seems to be working for Clinton. “Her degree of thyroid abnormality wasn’t that significant and seems to be easily controlled,” Ross says.

Clinton’s pneumonia isn’t shocking, given her issues with allergies, women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, MD, tells Yahoo. “It would appear that her seasonal allergies and upper respiratory infection worsened into a bacterial pneumonia,” she says. “Due to the stress and hectic schedule of a presidential candidate, this scenario is not out of the ordinary.”

Wider points out that Clinton was advised to rest by her physician after running a low-grade fever and showing signs of an upper respiratory infection, but was clearly unable to do so. “As a result, the infection worsened, congestion got worse, and it moved into her chest, resulting in a pneumonia,” Wider says.

As for the tube in her ear, Ross says it’s a more common treatment for children, but likely was used to help drain fluid that had accumulated in Clinton’s ear. “It’s probably temporary,” she says.

Her vitals are also excellent, with Ross noting that her pulse-oximetry, a measure of how well your lungs exchange oxygen, is near perfect. Says Ross: “Those are the vitals of a very healthy young woman — I think they’re better than mine.”

Hillary Clinton Has Pneumonia: Here’s What That Means for Her Health

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