In this interview, we sit down with Dr. Tapish Sahu, Expert of Vascular and Endovascular Sciences from New Delhi, to discuss President Donald Trump's recent diagnosis of Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI). Learn what CVI is, its symptoms, causes, and how it impacts an individual's health. Dr. Sahu breaks down whether CVI could affect Trump's ability to perform his presidential duties and addresses the critical question: Is President Trump unfit for office due to this condition? Stay informed with expert insights on this trending health topic affecting the 47th U.S. President. Don’t miss this in-depth conversation on CVI, its management, and its implications for Trump’s presidency in 2025.
What you’ll learn in this video:
What is Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI)?
How does CVI affect an individual’s health and lifestyle?
Can CVI impact Trump’s ability to perform presidential duties?
Is Donald Trump medically unfit for the presidency?
What are the latest treatments & management options for CVI?
00:00Trump, who himself called FIT, he has been diagnosed with a health condition.
00:05Chronic venous insufficiency.
00:07What exactly is CVM?
00:09It's a long-standing vein problem where the blood is not bumped completely to the heart.
00:14Some other cofactors like smoking, alcohol, which cause the blood to get thickened, it is very, very common.
00:23If there are no increased heart pressures, then this is just a problem with the legs.
00:27On 17th of July, White House shared an interesting information about US President Donald Trump's health.
00:34President Trump has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, CBI.
00:41Now, it's a difficult name.
00:42But what is more difficult, that Trump, who himself called FIT, he said that being FIT is one of his strengths for running for the President's chair.
00:52Now, he has been diagnosed with a health condition.
00:57Well, like many of you, I had similar doubts regarding this health condition.
01:02And we are at the right place.
01:03We have the right person to resolve all those doubts.
01:07We have with us Dr. Sahu with us.
01:10Dr. Sahu is Secretary of Vascular Society of India.
01:14He is also HOD of Manipal Hospitals Vascular and Endovascular Sciences.
01:20So, Dr. Sahu, first of all, welcome and thank you for giving us your time.
01:24Thank you very much.
01:26Well, you must have heard about Trump's disantagnosis, right?
01:30So, first thing and first question will be, what exactly is CBI?
01:34So, let me just clear up this word which has been doing the rounds all around the world.
01:40The CBI, chronic venous insufficiency, as the name suggests, this is chronic, means it's longstanding, it's not acute, it's not developed in days or hours, it's developed over weeks to months to years.
01:52Then, venous means that these are related to the blood vessels which carry the blood back to the heart.
01:57This is not related to the arteries which are carrying the good blood.
02:01And then, insufficiency means that these veins are not able to function properly.
02:05They are not able to carry the blood 100% back to the heart because of which there is some pooling of blood in the legs which cause some symptoms which we'll discuss about in the talk as we do.
02:18So, this chronic venous insufficiency is a longstanding vein problem where the blood is not pumped completely to the heart.
02:26Well, you said that it's a longstanding issue.
02:29So, well, does it have anything related to age or age is one of the contributing factors which ultimately develops into the prime reasons for this condition?
02:40So, chronic venous insufficiency can be primary or secondary.
02:43Primary means that it's related to certain factors such as age.
02:48More than 50 years.
02:50Then, it is related in females with pregnancy hormonal changes.
02:54It is it can be having a hereditary factor as the cause or people who stand for a long time travel for a long time.
03:01As in the occupational hazards or obesity is also one of the risk factors of chronic venous insufficiency.
03:08So, yes, it is generally not a problem with the younger age group until unless they have a sedentary lifestyle, they are not walking much or they are overweight, then it can develop occur in patients in the younger age group also.
03:23Well, travelling is one of the key factors of the job of President Donald Trump.
03:30Well, you have to travel to different countries, meet various people throughout the nation.
03:34So, an individual who has been diagnosed with CVI, does it affect his travelling abilities or his walking abilities?
03:44So, there are certain precautions that you have to take, there are certain things that you have to do if you have to do your job properly, if you have to travel, you have to wear stockings, you have to be on certain medications so that the veins are not engorged.
03:59Because normally, it won't occur in President Trump, obviously, because he is travelling in Air Force One, but in people who are travelling in economy class and those who have this problem, there is a 1% chance of an economic class syndrome of developing a DVT in patients who have crammed their legs, who are not walking, who are dehydrated.
04:21But if your legs are, you are wearing stockings, if your legs are not suspended, if you are well hydrated, you are walking, then there are very less chances than any clots can develop in such patients.
04:33Otherwise, yes, for general public, yes.
04:36Okay, so I have one another important question, which is, is it curable?
04:40Because when it comes to individuals, normally, they would also like to know whether it is curable or not.
04:47And in case of Donald Trump, he has a long presidential years before him.
04:53So will it affect his remain time?
04:56Great.
04:56So it all depends on what is the cause.
04:59As I said, it can be primary or secondary.
05:01Primary can be due to varicose veins.
05:05Secondary is due to after a clot, after a DVT, then a secondary post thrombotic syndrome develops, which I have read that there is no DVT.
05:14As per the White House report, there is no clot.
05:18So it's a primary CVI.
05:21So if it is primary, you need to know that if the cause is varicose veins, then it is curable.
05:26By minimally invasive means like laser or glue therapy, then it's curable.
05:31If it is just due to weak veins with intact valves, then you can maintain it by stockings and medications.
05:41Then it can't be cured, but you can maintain them so that it doesn't cause any physically debilitating problem.
05:48Well, there's one more common doubt among the people who are asking about CVI, whether this particular issue, is it commonly spread across US or India for that matter?
06:03Is it common or is it rare in case of only President Trump?
06:06It is very, very common.
06:09Let me be very candid about this.
06:11This has come into the foray because of a highlighted figure, but it is a very common problem.
06:17We see this day in and day out.
06:19This obviously with the advent of social media and so many search engines, these things, you know, currently how things come into highlight is that a simple visible vein in current times, people read about it or put it in AI tools and it can go up to a clot or an embolism or a death even.
06:45So, it is an alarming thing for them, but it's a very, very benign thing to say that green or blue veins being just visible is a cosmetic concern, not a functional concern.
06:58So, it's a problem with, as I said, off late, we have seen work from home, off late, we have seen improper dietary habits, improper, you know, some other cofactors like smoking, alcohol,
07:13which cause the blood to get thickened or the veins to become weaker in previous times when physical activity was too much, these things were not as common.
07:24But when the calf is not being pumped, these veins are more visible and so these things are more seen nowadays.
07:32They existed before also, but it's being highlighted more because people are more aware, let's just put it that way.
07:39And what about the condition which particular Donald Trump has?
07:44I think it's not only related to CVI.
07:47Yes, you're right.
07:48There's something more.
07:49So, let me decipher the whole report.
07:51What's doing the rounds is that there was a bluish patch on the dorsal aspect of the hand while a handshake, which was highlighted in a photograph and also the leg condition, which had edema.
08:04So, these two things, if we just talk about what exactly happened, he's on a blood thinner, aspirin, which is an antiplatelet agent and along with CVI, CVI means the veins have become weak with age.
08:20So, the fragility, the fragility increases and there are chances of either spontaneous burst or patches on the legs because of increased pressure or due to minor trauma with a blood thinner like a strong handshake can lead to these kind of patches or even with age, we see these things developing spontaneously with people who are on blood thinners.
08:47So, you won't call exactly CVI causing a hand patch.
08:52It is because of combination of a blood thinner with the veins which are weak that they are easily bruised, that they are easily burst, the capillary burst that happen.
09:02But it's not limb or life threatening.
09:05Let me just tell you.
09:06Dr. Sahoo, you are giving valuable insights into the CVI health condition.
09:12But at the same time, could it be the case that it is not a single health condition which develops as we grow old and what other primary reasons about Trump's life or any individual's life which will lead eventually to CVI.
09:30So, this also has a hidden question of how to prevent this with regards to President Trump or any other person as he is growing old.
09:41The first thing is that you have to maintain your physical activity.
09:44You have to walk at least 10,000 steps per day to keep your veins and the calf pumping properly so that your circulation is well maintained.
09:55There is a heart here and the peripheral heart is there in the calf.
09:58So, if you keep on pumping them properly, the circulation is fine.
10:02Otherwise, if one heart is not pumping properly, then there are chances of blood pooling and those lead to increased diameter of the veins which lead to these kind of increased pressure and problems.
10:14So, as you are growing old, your weight should be under check.
10:20Keep yourself well hydrated.
10:22That's very important.
10:24Smoking is one thing that we always say that you have to cut down, quit it as soon as possible because it makes your blood thick.
10:32And whenever you are going for a walk which you should include in your lifestyle, wear a stockings.
10:39That does not hurt.
10:40People who are used to stockings, they feel so good about it.
10:44When they walk with it, these kind of things do not appear at all.
10:47And even if they have appeared because of whatever reason, because you could not control your weight.
10:52Let's say you had a family history, it was not in your hands, then no problem.
10:57Just wear stockings and consult a vascular surgeon.
11:00He may do a Doppler as was done for Donald Trump, President Trump, that they did a Doppler and revealed the whole report that this, this, this is there in the Doppler report.
11:10So, everything else is ruled out that, okay, it's not life threatening.
11:14It's not limb threatening.
11:15There is no DVT.
11:16There is no clot.
11:17So, once you have charted out everything, you know you are at peace and this is the way to go.
11:21So, when this news came out, some people might have highlighted one word, veins, or they related it to the heart.
11:31So, is it a myth that people are circulating around that Donald Trump's heart is somewhere in serious condition.
11:39His health will deteriorate over the time.
11:41Would you like to burst that myth or it's true?
11:43So, to be very frank, heart conditions can cause.
11:50vein engorgement because this circulatory system is ultimately coming from the heart into the heart.
11:58Blood is pumped by the arteries down where the oxygen is delivered and the veins carried back to the heart.
12:04So, if the heart is weak in certain patients, which is, which can be made evident by a good echocardiogram, if there are no increased heart pressures, then this is just a problem with the legs.
12:16If there are increased heart pressures, then the back pressure changes causes these kind of venous issues also.
12:22But, well, if it's there or not, this is not the right diagnosis to make by looking at the legs.
12:28You have to get further tests done to arrive at a diagnosis whether the heart is functioning fine or not.
12:33This should not be taken as a surrogate marker to label some person's heart as a weak heart.
12:39So, Doctor, we had a beautiful conversation.
12:42But, if you will have to summarize it for our viewers.
12:45What are the three to four key points which you will highlight?
12:48So, the key points out of this whole talk is that President Trump is having a problem of chronic venous insufficiency which you also might be having.
12:58Maintain your lifestyle, your eating habits, your weight properly.
13:03Walk to prevent these kind of things.
13:06And even if you do have certain problems, rather than consulting your neighbors or half-knowledge people,
13:15it is always better to consult a specialist or an AI model.
13:20It is not always a surgical option.
13:25Majority of the things can be treated by just reassurance by proper medications if required by lifestyle changes.
13:32And just a small simple thing as a stockings and a leg elevation will help you not progress further.
13:39So, early diagnosis, early consult is always recommended.
13:44So, thank you so much Dr. Sahu for giving us your time.
13:47We had our doubts.
13:48We asked you questions and you resolved them.
13:51So, thank you so much.
13:52Pleasure.
13:53Thank you so much.
13:54So, this was Dr. Sahu who told us about all the knowledge about CVI.
13:59And the most important thing that yes, Donald Trump has been diagnosed with CVI.
14:04But it is not life threatening.
14:06And at the same time, it might lead to other problems while his travel, his walking.
14:12But there are precautionary measures.
14:13If he follows them, then he is all good.
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