Does Putin have blood cancer?

Suddenly, we are all diagnosticians. Clips of a puffy Putin slurring his words, his hands twitching or clutching a table for grim death, have led to all kinds of speculation about his health. It does seem probable that he is suffering from some ailments, to be sure. However, we need to be careful we do not get carried away with the speculation.

Putin is notoriously private and his health is considered well off-limits. For a man who built much of his personal brand on his judo-fighting, ice hockey-playing, bare-chested horseback-riding persona, illness and ageing are obviously sensitive topics.

Nonetheless, it has long been known that he suffers from recurring back problems, and appears to have undergone surgery more than once. There has been more recent talk that he has Parkinson’s, based on his twitches. The evidence that he has repeatedly been attended by senior cancer specialist have raised thoughts of thyroid cancer.