Recent medical checkups confirm that there are no medical reasons to keep Senator John McCain from becoming the next president.

“I can find no medical reason or problems that would preclude Senator McCain from fulfilling all the duties and obligations of president of the United States,” said his long-time physician Dr. John Eckstein.

The details of McCain’s health were made available by the Mayo Clinic to a select group of reporters on Friday. Over 1000 pages of medical documents that detail McCain’s health were compiled over an 8 year span from 2000 to 2008. McCain’s campaign released the information to the public to suppress any thoughts that the Senator wasn’t fit for his presidential duties.

Some highlights from the report include:

• A treadmill stress test concluded he has no heart problems and was able to exercise at a high level.
• He smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 25 years until stopping in 1980.
• Other common age-related health problems included benign colon polyps and kidney stones that were removed.
• McCain has had a continuous struggle with skin cancer. Four malignant melanomas were removed in 1993, 2000 and 2002. Major surgery on his face in 2000 removed a melanoma - a skin cancer that can be deadly in some cases.
• An exam on February 6 shows that he takes medicine to control his cholesterol, in addition to baby aspirin, allergy medicine, and the occasional use of Ambien - a sleep-inducing drug.

Most people may be concerned about his age, but the biggest risk for McCain would be developing new skin cancers. The 71-year-old senator would become the oldest first-term president.

[Reuters]