Only practicing physicians in Congress: Trump’s diagnosis won’t “stop his work”

Rep. Greg Murphy (RN.C.), the only practicing physician in Congress, said in an interview Thursday that President Trump’s recent diagnosis would not “stop his work.”

“In terms of the president’s health, make sure – look, that doesn’t delay him, nor stop him,” Murphy said on the news agency’s show “The Hill.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump had undergone medical tests due to “slight swelling” on his legs and bruising on his hands. Tests show that the president suffers from chronic venous insufficiency.

This happens when it is difficult for a person’s leg veins to pump blood back to the heart and bring blood into the pool, the Cleveland Clinic says. According to Leavitt, there is no evidence of deep venous thrombosis or arterial disease.

“It’s not a rare thing. As people age, veins have few valves, which is what keeps the blood somewhere and then the muscles contract, which actually pushes the blood backward from the legs to the heart,” Murphy told owner Blake Burman. “As time goes by, these valves become more incompetent. They don’t work very well, so it causes some stagnation and some blood won’t recover.”

White House physician Sean Barbabella said in a memo Thursday that Trump’s medical team performed an echocardiography that showed “normal heart structure and function.”

“No signs of heart failure, renal dysfunction or systemic disease were found,” Barbara said.

White House doctors also said that the bruises on Trump’s hands were “consistent with the mild soft tissue injury that often shakes hands” and because he regularly takes aspirin.

“(Trump) has an echocardiogram that makes sure he doesn’t have the right heart failure and the right heart isn’t absorbing the blood as it should. That doesn’t seem to be a problem,” Murphy said. “So it’s a common thing, obviously he took aspirin, so it’s a bruise on his hands, a very common thing.”

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