I’m a doctor and there is no evidence that HiIlary Clinton has a secret illness or seizures

The assertion that Hillary Clinton has undisclosed health issues is moving from the fringes of the Internet to the mainstream.

Trump, Fox News, and even Dr. Drew have been fanning the flames. Sean Hannity displayed his obsession with a video clip of Clinton that he thought displayed “uncontrollable” “violent, violent repetitive jerking of the head.” He also claimed the reporter pulled back and “got scared.”

Rudy Giuliani advised people to Go online and put down “Hillary Clinton illness,” and take a look at the videos for yourself.

So I followed Giuliani’s advise (a first time for everything, I suppose).

This is not a seizure. However, like a good physician I found more information than just this clip. I read what the reporter who was with Mrs. Clinton had to say, the same reporter who Hannity claimed was “scared.” Her name is Lisa Lerer and she states she wasn’t scared and it wasn’t a seizure.

Hannity, Trump, and Giuliani might think that looking at short video clips and photos out of context is a valid way to make a diagnosis, but it is not. I’m a doctor so I get to say that, they don’t. There are a few things that can be diagnosed with a photograph when there is an adequate accompanying history. In this case, we do have that in the form of the letter released in 2015 by Mrs. Clinton’s physician. There is mention of her head injury, there is no mention of seizures.

For this clip of Mrs. Clinton to be a seizure it would have to be a simple partial seizure, which can leave the person conscious throughout the episode. That’s really a long shot as it doesn’t look like that and given how lucid Clinton was it really doesn’t seem possible that it could be seizure activity. Mrs. Clinton does have a history of concussion in 2012 and head injury is a risk factor for simple partial seizures, but she was monitored extensively after her head injury. She had double vision (this resolved in 2 months) and this symptom would have been worked up extensively. She would have had brain imaging at least twice (once when the sinus thrombosis was diagnosed and the other that showed resolution), but probably more than twice. She would have been evaluated by a neurologist at least once, but probably more than once given she was Secretary of State. As she disclosed her double vision there would be no reason to suspect she would have failed to disclose other symptoms.

Let’s also consider the hours and hours and hours of video that exist of Clinton and the years she has spent in the pubic eye. She was recorded for 11 hours straight during her hearing on Benghazi, she has participated in Presidential debates, she campaigned for the Democratic nomination twice, she’s been in meetings in the White House Situation Room, she’s negotiated with world leaders. There are few people save other Presidents, world leaders, and some rock stars and actors who have spent more time in front of the public and press in high-pressure and stressful situations. We even know when she goes to Chipotle, so if Mrs. Clinton had previously experienced seizure activity or was seeking medical care for seizures it simply couldn’t be unknown.

For Mrs. Clinton to have a secret form of simple partial seizures one would have to believe this video clip is a seizure, which it isn’t, ignore the thousands upon thousands of witnessed hours Mrs. Clinton has spent in high pressure situations, believe the doctors who closely evaluated her after her concussion missed the seizures or are hiding them, and then believe that her personal physician was lying in the letter or that Mrs. Clinton, a woman who is followed everywhere by reporters and has been for years, secretly sees a neurologist under the table paying cash to avoid a paper trail.

You don’t need to be a doctor to say Mrs. Clinton doesn’t have seizures, you just have to be able to read English and have common sense.

With all this in mind any person who still truly believes this video is evidence of a seizure or that it in someway supports a health conspiracy could possibly be suffering from paranoia and might want to see a doctor to have those symptoms evaluated.