Deeb Salem, chairman of medicine at New England Medical Center and former president of the American Heart Association's New England affiliate, said intense jobs are not inherently health risks, especially for those who thrive on pressure. Cheney takes cholesterol-lowering medication, according to Hughes, who said the Bush campaign is debating whether to release more details on his long list of medications. This year 1.1 million Americans will have a new or recurrent coronary attack, and more than 40 percent will die as a result, the American Heart Association estimates. But with increasingly effective preventive measures, people have a better chance of a long life if they survive the attack. Normally, the heart squeezes 50 percent of the blood in it with each beat.
Heart attacks can damage the muscle and cut that percentage.
But if all three indicators look good, he said, those chances are dramatically reduced. Politicians have long debated whether the public has a right to know such details, but they are legitimate questions, he said. Other health concerns in Cheney's life have included the removal of a skin cancer, Hughes said. And, she added, he is allergic to pomegranates. Anne E. Kornblut of the Globe Staff contributed from Austin, Texas.