Just hours before the long awaited Election Day, the McCain campaign made public a summary of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s health saying the governor is in “excellent health.”

The summary was in fact a two-page letter written by Palin’s Physician, Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson reading that “Governor Palin is in excellent health and has no known health problems that would interfere with her ability to carry out the duties and obligation of Vice President of the United States of America.”

Dr. Baldwin-Johnson has been Palin’s doctor since 1997. Palin’s hospitalizations “have been related to routine women’s health care and pregnancy,” the doctor noted. The letter describes how Palin learned in the second trimester of her most recent pregnancy that her youngest son Trig had Down syndrome. She has other four children born in 1989, 1990, 1994 and 2000.

In 1992, Palin had a breast biopsy for a lesion that turned out to be benign. She is on no routine prescription medications and has no drug allergies either. Her vital signs are also normal with a blood pressure of 96/61 and a pulse of 77 at the time of her last office visit – though no date was given.

Although releasing medical records is a common thing to do when you are a presidential and vice-presidential candidate, Palin refused to do so last month. Furthermore she declined questions about her medical history.

Her rival, democratic US vice president nominee Joe Biden released his medical records last month, showing he is in good health despite two aneurysms he had suffered when he was 45. The VP candidate has a healthy blood pressure (120 over 78) and his heart arteries are ok. Apart from the treated aneurysms, Mr. Biden has minor health problems. The list includes an enlarged prostate, no prostate cancer though, minor problems with the cholesterol level and chronic sinusitis. Mr. Biden went through sinus surgery and is now using medication for relief. Joe Biden also had a bit of problems with an irregular heartbeat called arterial fibrillation, but this happened in 2006. After screening in July and November, the Delaware senator found out that he had no cardiovascular disease.

Earlier this year, Sen. John McCain, 72, released more than 1,100 pages of medical records most of them dealing with the removal of four melanomas the worst kind of skin cancer. Although his doctors gave him good prognosis, the senator currently undergoes regular skin cancer checkups.

Democrat Barack Obama, 47, did not release actual records, though his personal physician wrote a letter in which he described the candidate’s health as excellent. Although a smoker, Obama has very good cholesterol levels, outstanding blood pressure and no sign of heart disease.

Sen. McCain has criticized Obama for running “on a doctor’s note, though Palin’s summary is similar to what Obama released.