First Amendment sent me a link to this tweet from Dr. Jennifer Gunter:
As I said in my first diary “Don’t Panic — Hillary Clinton doesn’t sweat,” we have documented evidence from reporter observations as well as a direct quote from the Secretary herself that she literally does not sweat, a not uncommon medical condition called hypohidrosis.
Dr. Jen takes a different approach, explaining what “near syncope” or “feeling faint” is from a detailed medical perspective. And it’s really not a big deal.
The medical term for fainting is syncope. Syncope is the temporary loss of consciousness and posture and due to a temporary insufficient flow of blood (and hence oxygen) to the brain. If the feeling of faintness and light-headedness and weakness comes but there is no loss of consciousness the event is called near syncope.
The video above shows what appears to be near syncope or an “almost faint.” Unless one was with Mrs. Clinton in the van one could not say if she fainted. As a doctor I see near syncope and syncope routinely as it happens during and after procedures. With near syncope it is pretty easy to intervene, as Mrs. Clinton’s team did, and prevent the faint.
The official statement from Clinton’s team is that it was overheating.
A statement from her campaign after she left the memorial said: "Secretary Clinton attended the September 11th Commemoration Ceremony for just an hour and thirty minutes this morning to pay her respects and greet some of the families of the fallen. During the ceremony, she felt overheated so departed to go to her daughter's apartment, and is feeling much better."
The only genuine medical risk from the condition of not producing sweat is overheating, and one of the symptoms of overheating is…. feeling faint!
So don’t panic. This is not a campaign-ending event, despite some hyperventilating from our resident concern trolls.
Lost in all the noise is the fact that Donald Trump also left the event early, either because he was also too hot or because he was bored, take your pick.
For that matter, if I was standing outside on a warm day wearing a suit jacket for 90 minutes, I’d have been a bit woozy near the end, too!
Update: Onomastic has a diary up with an official statement from the Clinton campaign — Clinton has pneumonia.
And she still went out to the memorial this morning. Tough as nails!