Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama released a terse health summary from his longtime physician yesterday that pronounced the Illinois senator in "excellent health" as he struggles to quit smoking.

The six-paragraph statement from the Obama campaign was in sharp contrast to last week's comprehensive release by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who allowed select reporters to review more than 1,000 pages of his medical records. At 71, McCain is a quarter-century older than Obama, 46.

As Obama took a rare break from the campaign trail yesterday, the health release indicated he's still using Nicorette gum to wean himself from cigarettes.

His Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, braved rainstorms yesterday in South Dakota, where she continued her message that she's the candidate most likely to beat McCain. "He will be a formidable candidate," Clinton said. "That's why we've got to field our strongest candidate."

Obama is forecasting an end to his long nomination battle with Clinton next week, after the last three primaries. Puerto Rico votes Sunday and voters go to the polls Tuesday in South Dakota and Montana.

"I am sure we will have discussions with Senator Clinton and her team," Obama said when asked by reporters late Wednesday how the contest will end.

Obama's physician, David Scheiner, said the senator has been in "excellent health" during the 21 years that the Chicago-based doctor has been treating him. Scheiner described him as "lean and muscular, with no excess body fat" at his last medical checkup, in January 2007.

The senator's blood pressure was 90/60 and his cholesterol was 173 with an HDL of 68 and an LDL of 96. An electrocardiogram, a measure of heart function, was normal.

Scheiner noted Obama's family history of cancer — his mother and grandfather both died of the disease — and his own history of "intermittent cigarette smoking." Scheiner said Obama "has quit this practice on several occasions and is currently using Nicorette gum with success."