Revealed: Trump takes hair-loss pills, is a stone too heavy ... but hasn’t got false teeth or dementia
DONALD Trump takes medication to prevent hair loss and needs to lose some weight – but his mental faculties are perfectly intact, his doctor said yesterday.
Presidential physician Dr Ronny Jackson, who examined the US President for fours hours last week, said that the 71-year-old was in ‘excellent’ health.
The doctor, who is a rear admiral in the US navy, said he had ‘no concerns’ about Mr Trump’s cognitive abilities after conducting examinations at the President’s request.
It follows recent claims in Michael Wolff’s book Fire And Fury – which the President tried to ban before its release – that staff in the White House were worried about Mr Trump’s mental stability.
The doctor, who was giving a briefing to the Press, said that Mr Trump takes four types of medication, including the drug Propecia to tackle baldness and an antibiotic cream to treat rosacea, a condition that causes the reddening of the skin. He also takes medication to fight cholesterol and aspirin to prevent heart attacks.
There had been speculation that Mr Trump could have been suffering from dementia after he slurred his words during a speech, and needed to use two hands to pick up a glass of water last month.
However, Dr Jackson said that Mr Trump – who recently tweeted that he was a ‘very stable genius’ – scored 30 out of 30 on a cognitive test that would have highlighted any cognitive issues including Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Jackson told reporters: ‘He has no absolutely no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever. He is very sharp.’
It had also been suggested that the slurring, in a speech about Jerusalem, could have been caused by dentures, but the presidential physician revealed that Mr Trump does not wear any.
And the doctor said that he saw no evidence that Mr Trump often repeated himself – something Fire And Fury claimed aides were worried about.
Dr Jackson, who dismissed speculation by psychiatrists about Mr Trump’s mental state as ‘tabloid psychiatry’, said the President had specifically requested that he include the mental test in the assessment and encouraged the doctor to ask all questions about his health.
There has also been concern that Mr Trump’s heart may not be up to the stress of his job.
The President, who weights just over 17st, admits that he gets little exercise beyond playing golf and has an unhealthy, high calorie diet heavy in beefburgers, steak and ice cream, although he doesn’t smoke or drink alcohol.
It has been reported that Mr Trump’s favourite meal is a 2,430calorie feast from McDonald’s consisting of two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and a large chocolate milkshake.
Dr Jackson - who has been presidential physician since 2013 and also examined Barack Obama – said Mr Trump’s cholesterol levels were low and attributed his healthiness to ‘incredible genes’.
However, he said that they had set a goal of losing 10-15lb in the coming year as the 6ft 3in President fell just within the ‘overweight’ range on the Body Mass Index. He said they had discussed an exercise routine ‘that spares his joints’.
Dr Jackson said: ‘He would benefit from a diet that is lower in fat and carbohydrates, and a routine health regimen.’
The doctor said he had spent time with the President during long working days, adding: ‘He has a lot of energy and a lot of stamina. I was very surprised how he kept going on 16-hour days when others tired.’
The cognitive test that the President took involves 30 questions, asking the participant to name animals, draw on the hands of a clock at certain times and recall a list of words.
The news that Mr Trump takes drugs to protect against baldness follows the claim from Fire And Fury that Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka tells friends that her father has had scalp reduction surgery.
This is a painful procedure in which a surgeon cuts away the central bald spot of the scalp and the remaining skin – which is able to grow hair – is then sewn back together.
The ends of Trump’s hair around the front and sides of his head ‘are drawn up to meet in the centre and then swept back and secured by a stiffening spray’.
She reportedly says that the colour of his hair comes from the product Just For Men, which gets darker the longer it is left on – but the President is too impatient to wait to remove it.