--- title: Bernie Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health description: "You are in overall very good health." canonical: https://time.com/4198318/bernie-sanders-health-doctor-medical-records/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-28T17:18:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:40.241Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health og:description: "You are in overall very good health." og:url: https://time.com/4198318/bernie-sanders-health-doctor-medical-records/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8cda4fe84d347a1/69887b14bc6cfc80aa3db765/bernie-sanders-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, smiles during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health twitter:description: "You are in overall very good health." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8cda4fe84d347a1/69887b14bc6cfc80aa3db765/bernie-sanders-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 28, 2016 5:18 PM UTC  Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, smiles during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, smiles during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 28, 2016 5:18 PM UTC Bernie Sanders was in “overall very good health” at the time of his last physical, health records show. According to [a letter from his doctor](https://berniesanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/image-9.pdf) released Thursday, the Vermont Senator has been treated for a variety of minor ailments over the years, including high cholesterol, gout, acid reflux, inflammation of the digestive tract, hernia surgery and superficial skin tumors. He currently takes medicine daily to help with an underactive thyroid. “You are in overall very good health and active in your professional work, and recreational lifestyle without limitation,” wrote Dr. Brian P. Monahan, attending physician for the U.S. Congress, where Sanders has gotten medical care for 26 years. According to the letter, the 74-year-old Democratic presidential candidate weighs 179 pounds and his blood pressure is 136/81—a systolic blood pressure that health officials consider borderline hypertension. His pulse was normal at 72 beats per minute, as was his cholesterol. Sanders’ rival Hillary Clinton [released a two-page letter](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-health-excellent-doctor-letter-2016-campaign-120861) from her personal physician in July which said she was in “excellent physical condition.” Bernie Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4198318/bernie-sanders-health-doctor-medical-records/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4198318/bernie-sanders-health-doctor-medical-records/"},"headline":"Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health","datePublished":"2016-01-28T17:18:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:40.241Z","description":"\"You are in overall very good health.\"","url":"https://time.com/4198318/bernie-sanders-health-doctor-medical-records/","keywords":["Bernie Sanders","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8cda4fe84d347a1/69887b14bc6cfc80aa3db765/bernie-sanders-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8cda4fe84d347a1/69887b14bc6cfc80aa3db765/bernie-sanders-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, smiles during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.","caption":"Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, smiles during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bernie-sanders/","name":"Bernie Sanders"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4198318/bernie-sanders-health-doctor-medical-records/","name":"Sanders' Doctor Gives Him a Clean Bill of Health"}}]}] ```