Donald Trump shrugged off concerns about his health yesterday after a dark-colored bruise was spotted on his left hand.
The US President was asked about the mark during his flight back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump, 79, replied: ‘I’m very good. I clipped it on the table. So, I put a little – what do they call it? – cream on it. But I clipped it.’
The septuagenarian insisted his recurring bruising is because he takes around 325mg of aspirin daily to prevent a heart attack or stroke.
Trump said: ‘I would say take aspirin if you like your heart. But don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising. I take the big aspirin.
‘And when you take the big aspirin, they tell you you’ll bruise.’
The Republican leader has taken high doses of aspirin for well over two decades, despite evidence suggesting the painkiller has few benefits for people without a history of heart problems.
Trump added to reporters yesterday: ‘The doctor said, “You don’t have to take that, sir. You’re very healthy.” I said, “I’m not taking any chances.”‘
The president being spotted with bruises on his hand is nothing new – he’s openly said he slathers his hand with makeup to hide them.
While Trump has chalked his bruises up to aspirin, the White House has claimed the blotches are from ‘frequent handshaking’.
Observers have suspected the marks were caused by IV drips, thin skin or the president’s age – he is the oldest president in US history.
In July, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which veins have trouble moving blood back to the heart.
GP’s verdict on Donald Trump’s repeteadly bruised hands
Dr Suzanne Wylie told Metro that as people age, their skin thins, making bruises more common.
Even a minor bump on a table can cause a blotchy purple mark to form, the GP said, making what Trump said ‘entirely plausible’.
‘The hands are especially prone because they are used constantly and are more exposed to everyday trauma,’ Dr Wylie added.
Aspirin can make bruises more common because the medication interferes with clotting, thickened blobs of blood that can block circulation formed in response to injuries.
‘As a result, bleeding under the skin can be more pronounced and bruises may appear larger or take longer to resolve, even after relatively trivial injuries,’ the medical adviser for IQdoctor added.
The diagnosis explained why he had been recently seen with swollen legs.
Only a few weeks later, Trump’s lack of a public schedule and silence on social media sparked mass speculation that he had died.
Yet, when he reappeared alive and well in September, he faced questions about having suffered a stroke at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony.
Nevertheless, the president has boasted that he’s ‘healthier than Obama’, who is 15 years younger than him.
His annual physical examination results last April found Trump to be ‘in excellent health’ and ‘fully fit to execute the duties’ of the presidency.
The report, written by Dr Sean Barbabella, cautioned that Trump has ‘well-controlled’ high cholesterol actinic keratosis (dry patches of skin).
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