Changing the Subject. McCain's HEALTH....

[ruby slippers]

Let me see....McCain has to take meds for...

Vertigo (Not life threatening but not pleasant if you have ever had it and incapacitating when episodes occur) Can't answer the phone at 3 am if having an attack.

Arthritis Not very much fun going up and down airplane steps

Bad Cholesterol Has to take meds to control it. Must not eat veggies but McDonalds like Bill Clinton

Skin Cancer Can reoccur at any moment

Colon polyps Removed this year

Kidney Stones currently taking meds to reduce prostrate and reduce calcium in his urine

And, why does it take 1173 pages of medical notes to describe his health? That seems like a lot if you ask me...One thousand, one hundred and seventy three....!!!!

[stellanoir]

1. Not to mention early dementia and PTSD.

Though they didn't define it as such until 1980 or so.

The guy is addicted to war and totally crazed.

[SpiralHawk]

2. Not to mention his Ambien THANG

That's the drug of choice for republicon homelanders...

[ErinBerin84]

4. holy shit

He takes ambien? Good times. My first introduction to ambien was my roomate coming into my room and telling me that there are two moons and that someone in the mirror was talking to her. I've definitely had conversations and done other weird things on ambien that I have no recollection of. No 3 AM phone calls for you! This seems a weird drug for him to be taking, especially in light of Cindy's past problems (even though ambien is not a painkiller, but people can get addicted to it). Random. Though I do feel badly for anyone with insomnia, but if I were either Obama, Clinton, or McCain, I would be freaking tuckered out by the end of the day.

[mcg]

7. ABC News: "McCain's Ambien Use: a Security Threat?"

It is true. McCain takes Ambien.

McCain's Ambien Use: a Security Threat?
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/Politics/story?id=4919842&page=1

In a presidential race marked by references to preparedness in the face of the 3 a.m. call, the revelation that presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain has taken the sleeping pill Ambien during his travels raises concerns that the rare side effects of the medication could impair his judgment.

"Taking more than the recommended dosage of Ambien or combining it with other sedative-hypnotics — for example, alcohol — may result in amnesia, fugue states and sleep walking," ...

Maybe this is one reason McCain needs Lieberman as a handler.

Why does McCain need to take sleeping pills?

Could lack of sleep affect his judgment?

[ErinBerin84]

9. the strange thing for me

Was that the dosage of ambien that I used to take was the same every time, but it would affect me in different ways on different nights, without any other interaction from alcohol or medication. It's hard to describe, but for me, if I took ambien and stayed up past a certain "window of time to go to sleep", it would put me in full on crazy mode. I've had friends who have driven on ambien and not remembered. But again, other friends have taken ambien and just gotten a peaceful night sleep without any weirdness. But in either case, kind of makes me fearful of the 3 AM phone call....

[intaglio]

3. Although the posting du jour is assassination

This needs pushing K&R

[ruby slippers]

10. let's just keep it up again by bookmarking and then bringing it back again and again

[yy4me]

5. And another thing to consider, isn't he lucky to have enough

insurance to cover all his ailments to the degree that they would generate 1173 pages of notes.
All things considered, I wish he would go back to Arizona and retire to some nice place where he can live out his life and spare us the inevitable saga of his latest ailments should he be elected.

[ruby slippers]

11. he gets Medicare, doesn't he, so the government pays for it

[nichomachus]

6. What he has is age-normal

You would expect a "healthy" 72-year old to have these conditions. In fact, he's healthier than most people his age -- that probably comes from being a member of the pampered elite and not having worked at a real job for the last 35 years.

[mcg]

8. fasting blood sugar value was described as "impaired."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/23/mccain.health.records

Some reporters, including CNN's, were allowed to examine McCain's medical records. In one, McCain's fasting blood sugar value was described as "impaired."

Asked to elaborate, Eckstein said he thought that the note referred to a 111 mg/dl blood sugar, with normals "in most labs" being between 70 mg/dl and 100 mg/dl.

Eckstein said he followed that test result with another that he did not identify, "which was completely normal."

I did a little web searching, it seems like the other test that Eckstein did not identify was for diabetes, not another blood test.