Hillary Clinton’s brief coughing spell near the end of her marathon 11-hour-long grilling over Benghazi on Thursday was probably nothing. After all, the national media scarcely mentioned it, and after a minute or so, following her taking a cough drop, she was back to answering questions from the committee.
Some, however, were reminded of author Ed Klein’s disclosures in his latest book, Unlikeable: The Problem With Hillary in which he pointed out numerous “mounting health issues” Clinton has been dealing with as far back as 1998. She has been “frequently plagued” by “blinding headaches” along with a series of strokes — DVTs, or deep vein thromboses — and fainting spells. One of those spells in 2012 caused her to stumble and break her elbow which, during an exam, revealed the DVTs.
Klein quoted a friend of Clinton’s that said: “For the first time [since] I’ve known her, she’s showing self-doubt about her strength and vitality.” Another friend told Klein, “She is exhausted and depressed a lot of the time” but taking sleeping pills only “made her less sharp the next day.” Klein also referred to other incidents on the campaign trail where she felt faint and nearly swooned but, according to Klein, “Those incidents were kept secret.”
On the other hand the friendly mainstream media made much of a complete exam that Clinton underwent by her personal physician, Lisa Bardack, M.D., back in March. In July Clinton released a health statement from Bardack who, according to the media, gave her a complete bill of health and declared her fit to be president.
A close look at Bardack’s statement revealed much more:
In December of 2012, Mrs. Clinton suffered a stomach virus after traveling, became dehydrated, fainted and [stumbled and] sustained a concussion. During follow-up evaluations, Mrs. Clinton was found to have a transverse sinus venous thrombosis and began anticoagulation therapy to dissolve the clot.
As a result of the concussion, Mrs. Clinton also experienced double vision for a period of time and benefited from wearing glasses with a Fresnel Prism.
Her concussion symptoms, including the double vision, resolved within two months and she discontinued the use of the prism.
She had follow-up testing in 2013 which revealed complete resolution of the effects of the concussion as well as total dissolution of the thrombosis.
Mrs. Clinton also tested negative for all clotting disorders. As a precaution, however, it was decided to continue her on daily anticoagulation [Coumadin].
According to JohnsHopkinsMedicine.org, a cerebral venus sinus thrombosis is nothing to discount or trifle with: A “CVST occurs when a blood clot forms in the brain’s venous sinuses that prevents blood from draining out of the brain. As a result, blood cells may break and leak blood into the brain, forming a hemorrhage.”
In plain English, this is a stroke of the brain, which, according to JohnsHopkins, “can result in damage to the brain and central nervous system. A stroke is serious and requires immediate medical attention.”
CVST symptoms include, according to JohnsHopkins, the following: headache, blurred vision, fainting or loss of consciousness, loss of control over parts of the body, and problems with vision. Left untreated CVST can result in permanent brain damage and ultimately, death.
Each of these symptoms, according to Clinton’s personal physician, was evident during her 2012 “incident.”
Today, however, according to her physician, Clinton
is a healthy female, with hypothyroidism and seasonal allergies, on long term anticoagulation [medicine]. She participates in a healthy lifestyle and has had a full medical evaluation, which reveals no evidence of additional medical issues or cardiovascular disease.
Her cancer screenings are all negative.
She is in excellent physical condition and [is] fit to serve as President of the United States.
No doubt her coughing spell on Thursday was completely unrelated to anything in her medical history. It was a long day for her; she was well into the 10th hour of a grueling session before an unsympathetic committee. Her coughing spell lasted less than a minute after which she was back in full voice.
Nothing to be concerned about. Unless one is running for president.
A graduate of an Ivy League school and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at www.LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
