The two candidates who are running against each other in this year’s United States presidential elections have not yet fully disclosed their medical records, thus hindering health experts’ efforts to make accurate assessments of both Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s health condition.

Knowing the nominees’ medical issues is of major importance to American citizens, since their vote needs to be cast under complete awareness of all the information that is prone to tip the scale in favor of one of the two candidates.

Senior United States Senator from Arizona John McCain, the GOP’s nominee, has made public 1,200 pages of medical info back in May this year, which unfortunately failed to offer clear answers with regards to his melanoma cancer. McCain developed skin cancer in his left arm in 1993, having had the melanoma surgically removed that same year.

Nevertheless, seven years later, the disease reoccurred and doctors had to remove two melanomas at that time, one on his temple and another on his left arm. Even though he has been cancer-free for several years now, the matter is not to be taken lightly, especially considering the nominee’s age (he is 72 years old) and the fact that his two prior occurrences increase the risk of him developing skin cancer again.

As for the junior United States Senator from Illinois Barack Obama, who is the Democratic Party’s candidate for U.S. president, he is known to have a smoking addiction that he’s fighting by chewing nicotine gum. Last week, a letter from his personal physician was released to the public, the document reading that the nominee was in excellent health.

The 2008 United States presidential elections are scheduled to take place on November 4.