United States President Joe Biden is scheduled to undergo a colonoscopy on Friday morning, briefly transferring powers to Vice President Kamala Harris. This will be the 78-year-old’s first routine physical exam as the president.
“This morning, the President will travel to Walter Reed Medical Center for a routine physical. While he is there, the President will undergo a routine colonoscopy,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
“As was the case when President George W. Bush had the same procedure in 2002 and 2007, and following the process set out in the Constitution, President Biden will transfer power to the Vice President for the brief period of time when he is under anesthesia. The Vice President will work from her office in the West Wing during this time.”
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Before Biden’s routine physical exam, let’s take a look at his health and medical history:
1. Biden reportedly had exercise-induced asthma during his teen years. His routine test report in 2019 stated that his chest x-ray was normal and that he had “no lung disease at all.”
2. During his presidential campaign in 1988, Biden had regular headaches, which required him to carry around a big bottle of Tylenol. He also experienced pain in his neck. In February that year, he suffered two life-threatening brain aneurysms.
3. Following his aneurysm surgery his February 1988, the president developed a blood clot in a leg, which led to a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs).
4. Biden developed an enlarged prostate around 2008 but biopsy showed no cancer.
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5. While playing with one of his pet dogs in 2020, Biden suffered “hairline fractures” in one of his feet.
6. Biden was unexpectedly diagnosed with
Atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm of the heart, during a routine pre-operative electrocardiogram at the time of his gall bladder removal in 2003. A physical examination that was held in 2019 showed an irregularly irregular heart rate of 72 beats per minute.