Donald Trump is suffering from a chronic vein condition, the White House announced on Thursday, after days of speculation regarding photographs showing bruising on the US president’s hand.
After recently experiencing swelling in his legs, Trump underwent a “comprehensive exam” including vascular testing, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt said Trump’s bruised hand was consistent with “tissue damage from frequent handshaking” while taking aspirin, which she said is “part of a standard cardio-vascular prevention regimen”.
The 79-year-old Donald Trump has regularly touted his good health and once described himself as “the healthiest president that’s ever lived.”
The president’s recently discovered vein condition is called chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when leg veins fail to pump blood to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs, which can then become swollen.
Veins and valves “propel the blood up and out of the leg” and back toward the heart, Dr Meryl Logan, assistant professor of vascular surgery at the University of Texas at Austin told the BBC.
Blood flowing from the legs to the heart is moving against gravity, which can make that process more difficult.
“So what chronic venous insufficiency is, is when those veins and valves don’t work and blood goes backwards down the legs,” she said.
