Bruising visible on President Donald Trump‘s hands has prompted renewed speculation about his health.
While the President has brushed off concerns by attributing the discolouration to his long-standing aspirin regimen, medical experts are now raising serious alarms. The issue isn’t just the bruising itself, but the ‘unorthodox’ dosage behind it, a daily intake that one leading cardiologist has branded as dangerous ‘nonsense’ rooted in superstition rather than science.
This latest health controversy stems from a report in The Wall Street Journal, which confirmed that the President insists on taking a daily 325-milligram dose of aspirin. Despite his doctors advising him to lower the amount due to the visible side effects, Trump has reportedly refused to budge. His reasoning is startlingly simple, if scientifically questionable: ‘I’m a little superstitious,’ he told the publication, noting he has maintained this routine for 25 years.
In his own words, the President believes the drug is essential for cardiac health. ‘They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,’ he explained. ‘I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?’
CNN Expert Slams Trump’s ‘Nonsense’ Logic on Blood Thinning
However, to Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a renowned cardiologist and CNN medical analyst, the President’s logic makes absolutely no sense at all. Appearing on the network just hours after the report surfaced, Reiner did not mince his words, dismantling Trump’s layman explanation of how anticoagulants actually work.
‘That makes no sense. That actually makes nonsense,’ Reiner fumed. He clarified a common misconception that seems to be guiding the President’s self-prescribed loyalty to the drug.
‘First of all, when we use any kind of anticoagulant, medications to prevent clotting, those don’t thin the blood. It’s not like changing something from gumbo to chicken soup. It doesn’t make it thinner. It makes you less likely to clot.’
Reiner said the issue reflects a wider concern about the President’s reluctance to follow current medical advice. He noted that guidance on aspirin use has changed in recent years. While it was once commonly recommended as a preventative treatment, doctors now advise against routine use in older patients because of the risks involved.
‘It used to be that we would treat a lot of people with aspirin therapy to prevent heart attacks,’ Reiner noted. ‘But we’ve learned in recent years that, particularly for people over the age of 70, not only is there no benefit in terms of just primary prevention… there can be hazard. And the hazard can be bleeding, significant bleeding.’
Doctors Baffled by ‘Unorthodox’ Dose Prescribed to President Trump
Perhaps the most alarming detail to emerge from this row is not just that Trump is taking aspirin, but the sheer quantity he is ingesting. Trump’s physician confirmed the 325-milligram daily regimen, a figure that Reiner suggests is wildly out of step with current best practices.
The cardiologist expressed genuine confusion over why the President would be on such a high dose when even patients with serious heart conditions are prescribed far less. ‘So here’s the interesting thing about this,’ Reiner continued.
‘The president apparently is taking 325mg of aspirin per day, which is essentially one adult-sized aspirin tablet. But the dosage that we use for patients, even with documented coronary artery disease, is a quarter of that. It’s 81 milligrams per day.’
The discrepancy begs the question: why is the President ignoring his own doctors? The Journal reported that despite the bruising, a clear sign that the dosage is too high, Trump has ‘declined to switch’ simply because he is a creature of habit.
For a man who holds the most powerful office in the world, basing health decisions on superstition rather than the advice of top medical professionals is a detail that is likely to fuel further debate about his fitness and the quality of care he is receiving inside the White House.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
