Doctors: Obama Needs to Stop Smoking

President Obama is in “excellent health” - but has to stay away from the smokes and watch his cholesterol, doctors said yesterday. Obama, 48, is a lean 180 pounds, with 20-20 vision, but needs to “continue smoking cessation efforts,” doctors said after his first physical as commander in chief.Physicians at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. recommended Obama continue his “nicotine replacement therapy,” either gum or the patch.

Obama owned up during the 2008 presidential campaign to falling off the wagon occasionally in his effort to quit smoking with the help of nicotine gum.

In June, he admitted he was only “95% cured” of the smoking habit. He said he’s not a daily smoker but confessed, “There are times when I mess up.”

He also had said that First Lady Michelle Obama, and kids Malia and Sasha, have been all over him to stay away from cigarettes.

The tests showed Obama has the excellent heart rate of an athlete, coming in at 56 beats a minute at rest, well below the 60-80 beats a minute that is considered good.

But the physical, supervised by Dr. Jeff Kuhlman, director of the White House Medical Unit, also suggested the stress of the office was having an effect on Obama.

His blood pressure was an acceptable 105/62 - up from the 90/60 rate during his last reported physical in 2007.

Obama’s cholesterol also has increased from a desirable 173 to the borderline high 209, and Kuhlman recommended that he watch his diet.

The initial report on the physical also suggested that Obama may have lost some of his jump on the basketball court.

Obama has occasional pain in his left knee from playing basketball, and Kuhlman advised a “lower extremity muscle strengthening program.”

{NY Daily News/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}

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