WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has hyperlipidemia and takes a statin and low-dose aspirin daily, but he has no physical impairments to doing the job, released Friday.
"He has reserves of strength, energy, and stamina that provide him with the ability to meet unexpected demands," wrote Randall Gaz, MD, an endocrine surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. "There are no physical impairments that should interfere with his rigorous and demanding political career as the next president of the United States."
The 65-year-0ld Romney takes an 81-mg aspirin and 10-mg atorvastatin (Lipitor) daily, but no other medication on a regular basis, his doctor since June 1989 said.
Romney does have minimally symptomatic benign prostatic hypertrophy and sinus bradycardia. Although allergic to penicillin, he's never had asthma, diabetes, coronary heart disease, or hypertension. He did have his appendix removed when he was 18.
In addition, "his slow, resting, regular heart rate in the 40s is most likely related to his past intensive exercise with regular running," Gaz wrote.
Other physicians said they weren't concerned with Romney's low resting heart rate either.
A low resting heart rate "does occur not just in athletes, but in many people who exercise regularly (daily) for 5 to 7 days a week, particularly those who work out intensely (particularly runners)," Harlan Krumholz, MD, professor of medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale University, said in an email to 乌鸦传媒 and ABC News. "Sometimes a low heart rate may be a result of medications (beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers) that people are on for hypertension [but] he is not on these medications."
"It's not uncommon to see resting heart rates in the 40s or even lower in highly conditioned individuals," Cam Patterson, MD, physician-in-chief at the University of North Carolina Center for Heart and Vascular Care, commented in an email to 乌鸦传媒 and ABC News. "In the absence of any evidence of other heart problems, low heart rates are a sign of good health and conditioning, not a warning signal."
Romney should have thyroid testing to rule out hypothyroidism, Steven Nissen, MD, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, suggested in an email to 乌鸦传媒 and ABC News.
Romney appears to have practiced good physical health habits, including avoidance of smoking and alcohol. "He eats a high fiber diet with abundant fruits and vegetables and minimizes intake of high-cholesterol foods and concentrated sweets," Gaz wrote.
Gaz reported that Romney has "a stable mild triglyceride elevation at 179," which Krumholz noted is a risk factor for heart disease.
"He is on a statin which may be lowering this, but I think this [triglyceride] number was with him on the statin (Lipitor)," Krumholz wrote. "So given this, he not only has to watch his cholesterol but also his carbs, because both raise his triglycerides. We like this number to be less than 150."
Romney's family history includes cardiac arrhythmias, heart attack, and prostate cancer. Because of the prostate cancer in the family history, the former Massachusetts governor undergoes regular PSA testing and urologic exams.
The family history of arrhythmias "does raise some red flags of concern for the heart rate but only if he was symptomatic, which he is not," Krumholz noted.
The assessment of Romney's running mate, 42-year-old Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), , was less extensive, but he was deemed in "excellent" overall health.
"You have practiced important preventative lifestyle choices to include regular vigorous aerobic, and strength-building exercises, a heart healthy diet, smoking abstinence, and infrequent alcohol use," internist Brian Monahan, MD, attending physician for Congress, wrote.
At Ryan's last checkup in Dec. 2011, his blood pressure, heart rate, electrocardiogram, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels were all considered normal, his doctor found.
The Wisconsin congressman does carry an inhaler for airway hypersensitivity and has had a herniated disc. The Ryan family has a history of early-onset coronary artery disease.
Romney's opposition, President Obama, was deemed in "excellent health" and "fit for duty" by his physician, Jeffrey Kuhlman, MD, at his last checkup in October. The 51-year-old president's blood pressure was normal and his cholesterol "ideal," Kuhlman stated.
This article was developed in collaboration with ABC News. 