Clinton in good health, doctor reports

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton released a letter from her doctor Friday that declared her to be in “excellent physical condition and fit to serve as president of the United States.”

Clinton is the first candidate for president in 2016 to release detailed information about her personal health.

A closer look at those details.

OVERALL PROGNOSIS

Clinton is a “healthy 67-year-old female whose current medical conditions include hypothyroidism and seasonal pollen allergies,” wrote Dr. Lisa Bardack, an internist who practices near Clinton’s suburban New York home.

Hypothyroidism is a very common condition, and Bardack said other notable events in her medical history include deep vein thrombosis — or a blood clot, usually in the leg — in 1998 and 2009, a broken elbow in 2009 and a concussion in 2012.

Bardack concludes that Clinton “participates in a healthy lifestyle” and her most recent exam found “no evidence of additional medical issues or cardiovascular disease. Her cancer screenings are all negative.”

The doctor noted that Clinton’s father lived into his eighties and her mother, into her nineties. HEART HEALTHY At her most recent exam in March, Clinton’s blood pressure was 100 over 65. Her total cholesterol was 195; her LDL or “bad” cholesterol was 118, and her HDL or “good” cholesterol was 64 — all within healthy levels and not signaling the need for any medications. 2012 CONCUSSION Bardack said that Clinton got a stomach virus while traveling in 2012, “became dehydrated, fainted and sustained a concussion.”

During the course of her treatment, doctors found a blood clot in a vein in the space between the brain and the skull behind her right ear. Clinton spent a few days in New YorkPresbyterian Hospital for treatment and took a month-long absence from her role as secretary of state. Bardack said testing the following year showed “complete resolution” of the concussion’s effects, including double vision, which Clinton wore glasses with specialized lenses to address. PRESCRIPTION PAD Clinton’s current medications include Armour Thyroid, a thyroid hormone replacement, antihistamines, vitamin B12 and Coumadin. The latter is a blood thinner that is used to prevent new blood clots from forming. “Her Coumadin dose is monitored regularly and she has experienced no sideeffects from her medications,” Bardack wrote. Clinton has no known drug allergies.

50 $1 million gifts to super PACs

More than 50 individuals and entities have shelled out at least $1 million apiece to big-money groups backing presidential candidates — with close to half of the big donors giving to a super PAC aligned with former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

With 15 months to go before Election Day, donors have already contributed $272.5 million to independent groups supporting the large Republican field, more than four times the $67 million raised through their official campaigns, according to a tally by The Washington Post.

In all, 58 million-dollar donors together were responsible for $120 million donated to GOP and Democratic super PACs by June 30 — more than 40 percent of the total amount raised by those groups.

Never before has so much money been donated by such a small number of people so early.

The massive sums have empowered outside groups that face no contribution limits and are now serving as de facto arms of many campaigns.