Politics

WASHINGTON — President Obama “is in excellent health” and likely to remain able to carry out his duties for the rest of his term, his doctor said Sunday after completing Mr. Obama’s first routine medical checkup since he took office.

But Mr. Obama, 48, continues to struggle to stop his 30-year smoking habit and needs to modify his diet, said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, a Navy captain who led the medical team that performed Mr. Obama’s physical.

The examination also found that Mr. Obama’s cholesterol count has risen to borderline high levels since his last publicly released medical records, though his pulse rate and blood pressure remain normal.

WASHINGTON — President Obama “is in excellent health” and likely to remain able to carry out his duties for the rest of his term, his doctor said Sunday after completing Mr. Obama’s first routine medical checkup since he took office.

But Mr. Obama, 48, continues to struggle to stop his 30-year smoking habit and needs to modify his diet, said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, a Navy captain who led the medical team that performed Mr. Obama’s physical.

The examination also found that Mr. Obama’s cholesterol count has risen to borderline high levels since his last publicly released medical records, though his pulse rate and blood pressure remain normal.

Mr. Obama exercises at least six mornings a week and plays basketball and golf. But the president has chronic tendinitis in his left knee area, occasionally takes a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for that condition and needs a modified exercise regimen, including a lower leg muscle strengthening program, Dr. Kuhlman’s report said.

// Former Vice President Dick Cheney suffered a mild heart attack Monday when he complained of chest pains and was hospitalized, his office said Tuesday.

"Lab testing revealed evidence of a mild heart attack," the statement said. "He underwent a stress test and a heart catheterization. He is feeling good and is expected to be discharged in the next day or two."

Cheney, 69, has a long history of heart problems.

Before Monday, he had suffered four earlier heart attacks, first in 1978 when he was 37. He suffered his second heart attack in 1984 and another one in 1988 before undergoing quadruple bypass surgery to unblock his arteries. A fourth heart attack occurred in November 2000. At that time, doctors inserted a stent to open an artery.

The following year, doctors implanted a heart monitoring device to keep track of his heart rhythm and slow it down if necessary. In 2008, he underwent a procedure to restore his heart to a normal rhythm after doctors found he was experiencing a recurrence of atrial fibrillation.

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