Back in September of 2017, columnist Dana Milbank said, "President Trump is killing me. No, really. He’s killing me." Here's the story from Milbank...
"I went for my annual physical last month, and, for the first time in my 49 years, I had to report that I’ve not been feeling well: fatigue, headaches, poor sleep, even some occasional chest pain. My doctor checked my blood pressure, which had always been normal before: alarmingly high!"
The columnist couldn't explain any of this because his lifestyle was one of different physical activities designed to keep him in good shape. A regulated diet didn't help much; EKG was normal; and sleep apnea, among other possibilities, was ruled out. Even a CT scan didn't reveal anything threatening. Then, Holy crap, Dana Milbank felt a THUD. He was suffering from Trump Hypertensive Unexplained Disorder. He commented...
"For almost five decades, I had been the picture of health, but eight months into Trump’s presidency, I was suddenly ailing. Trump is the only variable, I told my doctor. “He sure is variable,” my doc replied, endorsing the diagnosis."Milbank knew THUD was real when his editor told him he was warned by his doctor that his blood pressure had become borderline. And then to confirm for himself that THUD was for real, he bought a blood pressure cuff. As an example, spending the evening with friends, his blood pressure was 116/67. On another occasion he remembered that Trump’s term would last another 40 months, his blood pressure was 159/97. This is the outcome...
"Psychotherapists tell me that they are unusually busy and that most clients are talking about Trump, who is exacerbating whatever neurosis, depression or other conditions they had. This is probably quantifiable, but I am too fatigued to do this work. My heart can only take so much."
Fast forward to 2019, the headline says, "Research Suggests Trump’s Election Has Been Detrimental to Many Americans’ Mental Health." Following are examples of THUD...
Overeating. Headaches. Fainting. Irregular heartbeat. Chronic neck pain. Depression. Irritable bowel syndrome. Tightness in the chest. Shortness of breath. Teeth grinding. Stomach ulcer. Indigestion. Shingles. Eye twitching. Nausea. Irritability. High blood sugar. Tinnitus. Reduced immunity. Racing pulse. Shaking limbs. Hair loss. Acid reflux. Deteriorating vision. Stroke. Heart attack. It was a veritable organ recital.
Over a two-year period things got no better. Active research included a broad segment of the American population, from young adults to women, to racial and LGBT communities. Findings were still negative...
The American Psychological Association‘s 2016 “Stress in America” survey, conducted online among some 3,400 American adults and published in February of 2017, found that 63 percent of respondents regard the future of the country as “a significant source of stress”; some 56 percent “say that they are stressed by the current political climate.” The 2018 edition of the survey showed that the number of Americans who view the future of the country as a significant stressor had jumped to 69 percent; those who saw the political climate as a source of stress had jumped to 62 percent.
And in 2017, two Harvard experts said, "Donald Trump’s presidency could make Americans sicker," but they suggested reasons other than polarizing politics...
"His administration’s proposed cuts to health and well-being programs could also hurt the population's health, if history is anything to go by, they said.""Their commentary, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, points to study after study documenting health effects that occur after landmark elections."
"From eliminating the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to cutting Medicaid benefits, increasing Medicare Part D prescription drug prices and eliminating reproductive freedom nationwide, Donald Trump’s Project 2025 would have disastrous, deadly consequences on our country’s health care system."Project 2025 is the blueprint for Trump if he wins a second term. Written by many of his former advisers, the 900-page document contains hundreds of policy proposals that would benefit the wealthy and corporations at the expense of working families and give Trump unprecedented executive power and control over our lives. Read our overview blog to learn about all the harms this blueprint would cause if implemented.
The above, in a different fashion than Dana Milbank's mental approach, explores the more physical aspects of how Donald Trump takes our health from us through the elimination and cutting back of programs that support medical care. Aljazeera comes right out and says it in February of this year: "How Project 2025, which Trump disavowed, is shaping his health policies." Here is the scenario...
Few voters likely expected President Donald Trump in the first weeks of his administration to slash billions of dollars from the nation’s premier federal cancer research agency.
But funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were presaged in Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership”, a conservative plan for governance that Trump said he knew nothing about during his campaign. Now, his administration has embraced it.
If you want a brief explanation of Project 2025, go to this BBC site. If you want to keep your well-being, I suggest you write your Congress person and tell them you are not willing to give up your health for Donald Trump or any other Republican.
