Presidential Health is Fascinating and Terrifying

The Impact of the Oval Office on Your Health

President of the United States: The job to end all jobs — literally. The last job anyone will ever have should create a wonderful health life with tons of leisure time post retirement, limited stress and reading. 4–8 years to retire for the rest of your life, access to any and all golf course you could ever want and it comes with with a full time secret service detail. Sound pretty cushy to me, but what was the health cost to get there?

• Grey Gardens — Oh the Hair! One of the most obvious impacts physical impact of being President is the quick and dramatic greying of the hair. Every cable news show from Fox News to CNN has made some witty comments regarding President Obama’s new hair color, but don’t think he was the first. Now, this can be attributed to general aging, but it’s important to note that high stress jobs might decrease the time it takes to grow a full head of grey hair.
• The Impact of the “White House Tan” — Spending all of those hours locked inside or unable to roll the window down seems quite daunting to me. But the physical impact is undeniable. A recent study by the of 5,000 women has show that in winter months, the lack of sunlight (and Vitamin D) makes skin paler and emphasizes the bags under your eyes. While this isn’t physical change isn’t permanent, its sure leaves our Commanders in Chief looking in need of a serious tropical vacation.
• Sleep No More — Presidential sleep scheduled seem varied at best as national security never stops. President Obama seems to be a night owl as he goes to bed around 1am each night, after spending some time with his iPad and awakes each morning around 7am. So on average he sleeps 5–6 hrs each night, well under the National Sleep Foundations recommendation of 7–9 hrs each night. However, the sleep time of each president has varied greatly. George W. Bush went to bed quite early and as such, seems to have gotten his recommended hrs. on average.

But there is some good news, the average life of a president is quite exceptional! The first eight Presidents of the United States lived to an average age of 79.8 years almost double of the average american lifespan of 40 years at that time. And all current living presidents are expected to outlive their current life expectancy. As such, the belief that President’s age twice as fast in office, due to stress, can be thrown out with the trash.

And let’s not forget, former President’s receive some of the best healthcare in the world, for the rest of their lives, for free.

While the short term health impact of the Presidential office from both a physical and mental impacts that include sleep loss, increased stress levels and overall can’t be ignored, its interesting to speculate where or not the long term health benefits out way the short term losses. Especially when their are new studies speculating that stress created health issues can be reversed over time. But that’s only if you can withstand little sleep and the most high stress job in the world for 4–8 years before you get to enjoy the good stuff. Either way, would you want to be in that position?

AND CLICK THAT GREEN HEART BELOW ↓ IF YOU LIKED OUR POST