WASHINGTON - Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann acknowledged Tuesday that she takes medication to control migraines, while her campaign shot down a story on a conservative website that her headaches are "incapacitating."
Addressing a crowd in Aiken, S.C., the Minnesota Republican said her condition is under control and would not affect her ability to be president.
"Since entering the campaign, I have maintained a full schedule between my duties as a congresswoman and as a presidential candidate traveling across the nation to meet with voters," she said. "I have prescription medication that I take whenever symptoms arise, and they keep the migraines under control."
Her condition, which has led to several brief hospital stays, was chronicled in a Daily Caller report that cited three unnamed sources who said they had worked for Bachmann. According to the online publication, the sources spoke out of concern for how her condition might affect her as president.
"Let me be abundantly clear -- my ability to function effectively has never been impeded by migraines and [they] will not affect my ability to serve as commander in chief," Bachmann said in a statement.
Bachmann's son, Dr. Lucas Bachmann, a medical resident at the University of Connecticut, said in an interview with the New York Times that "she would not in any respect meet the definition for not having capacity in one of these episodes." Dr. Bachmann, who does not treat his mother but is familiar with her condition, said that she had suffered from migraine headaches for about 15 years and takes "standard migraine treatment medications" for the condition. "She is probably not going to run a mile, but in terms of being able to engage, she can comprehend and assess information -- without a doubt," he said.
He said that his mother had sought emergency medical treatment in urgent care centers.
In the past, Bachmann aides have acknowledged several brief hospital stays, including one in Washington last year. But until now they have not disclosed the nature of her condition.
