Sanders' Heart Attack

I voted for Sanders in the 2016 primaries, but do not expect to vote for him in 2020.

I have chronic heart disease and have had a couple of heart attacks over the years. I'm in my mid-50s. I take a handful of pills that keep my blood pressure in check, but even with them, I am still fighting exhaustion, disease, reduced energy and shortness of breath with almost any exertion every day. The closest I can come to describing the effect is to imagine walking around with a fifty-pound backpack every moment of the day.

I know, after my last heart attack a couple of years ago, I ended up being sidelined for nearly four months as my body recovered, and even now, a few years later, I no longer have even close to the energy I used to have.

At 78, if Sanders isn't planning to drop out after Iowa, I would question his judgment to be president. I question Biden's health as well, though I believe that he's in physically better shape. However, I see in Sanders a lot of the same mannerisms as I have developed in recent years: the need to physically prop oneself up, shortness of breath, unsteadiness in the hands, an economy of movements, sleepiness, especially in an extended setting. In a heart attack, the heart itself has been damaged, certain cardiac muscles no longer work and arrhythmias and tachycardias are much more likely to occur.

It also means that the potential for falls, always a danger at this age, jumps dramatically. Many times such falls are less due to slipping than they are dizziness and fainting due to a sudden drop in blood pressure, something else which people familiar with heart attacks can tell you all about.

I doubt he will drop out between now and Iowa (I don't think his pride will permit it, if nothing else), but I do believe that the heart attack will weigh heavily in the minds of voters that are otherwise predisposed towards him.