Merkel says she's taking care of herself. But what should we know about a leader's health? | CNN

01:18 - Source: CNN

Angela Merkel seen shaking for third time in under a month

CNN —

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she’s taking care of health after experiencing her third bout of shaking in public in less than a month.

But she gave no further detail, doing little to put to rest speculation about what’s been affecting her.

It’s perhaps no surprise the world’s most powerful female politician caught on camera visibly trembling has stirred up a media frenzy, but do people have the right to know about a leader’s health and medical details?

“You can be sure that, firstly, I am aware of the responsibilities that come with my office and that I behave appropriately as far as my health is concerned,” Merkel said Thursday after meeting with new Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

“And secondly you can also know that as a person I have a keen interest in being healthy and I take care of my health.”

Merkel and her doctors might not even know yet what it is, said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent. Merkel may have recently noticed symptoms and still be in an evaluation process that involves trying different medications.

One possibility is orthostatic tremor, a rare condition that’s primarily present when someone is standing, Gupta said. It’s more common among women, and typically diagnosed in people around Merkel’s age, 64.

Treatment can involve muscle relaxers or medications used to treat seizures. Unlike Parkinson’s and some other conditions that cause tremors, it’s not something that ultimately leads to increasing disability.

With orthostatic tremor, “if they are sitting, if they are walking, if they are moving, that tremor seems to go away,” Gupta said.

Video from Thursday showed Merkel using a chair, rather than standing, during military honors for Denmark’s leader.

Markus Schreiber/AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center right, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, sit on chairs as they listen to the national anthems on Thursday.

Privacy valued

In Germany, which has strict privacy laws, many are willing to take Merkel’s explanations at face value.

“It’s not like the US where people think they have all kinds of rights to information about the President or presidential candidates. It’s a less personalized system of government,” said Volker Best, a researcher at the University of Bonn’s Institute of Political Science and Sociology.

“I also think people are trusting Merkel to know when it’s time; if there were real health problems she’s a politician that would admit them and take the right action. She would not cling on to power,” he added.

Merkel’s long tenure as Germany’s leader is set to come to end in the next two years. She has said she only intends to complete her current term and has ruled out running for any political office after 2021.

Unlike the United States, there’s no equivalent to a White House physician nor are details from formal medical exams released to the public, Best said.

“In Germany there are no laws that force politicians to disclose their health status,” Best said.

A chance to rest

Germany’s parliament is set to go on recess on July 19, which Best says will give Merkel a chance to rest and, unless another shaking bout occurs, the topic will likely disappear from the headlines.

Susanne Michl, a junior professor in medical humanities and ethics in medicine, at the Institute for the History of Medicine and Ethics in Medicine in Berlin, said that, in theory, political leaders should disclose the cause of any incapacity that stops them from doing their job.

However, “I think even then it’s a privacy issue. You have to more or less wait until a leader would say I’m not able to do my business,” she said.

“In the case of Angela Merkel, she is in good shape, she hasn’t canceled anything. I think the shaking isn’t an issue for her to tell people what her doctors have told (her about it.)”