Bernie Sanders cancels campaign events due to artery blockage

"During a campaign event yesterday evening, Sen. Sanders experienced some chest discomfort. Following medical evaluation and testing he was found to have a blockage in one artery and two stents were successfully inserted. Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits," Sanders senior advisor Jeff Weaver said in a statement.

"Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days," he said, as stents tend to be a "minimally invasive procedure" which require a short recovery time, according to the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The 78 year-old Senator has now cancelled all future events and appearances "until further notice", from a campaign where he was polling at third place, behind Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President, Joe Biden.

Sanders had announced that his campaign had already raised over $25 million, overtaking his competitors by a significant amount of fundraising between July and September. 

The rest of the Democratic candidates have rushed to social media to express their solidarity.

Although Sanders had announced a $1.3 million television advertising purchase in Iowa, his team abruptly started cancelling them, US media reported. 

The Senator had been experiencing health issues prior to this incident, losing his voice last month which cost him three events in South Carolina. 

He gathered a substantial following during the race for the 2016 Presidential race, by proposing radical left-wing policies and gathering grassroot donations.

His foreign policy has been hailed by activists for his support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and other pro-Palestinian policies. 

On his official website he states: "Israel has a right to exist in security, and at the same time the Palestinians have a state of their own."

Sanders served in Congress as an independent, but aligned himself with the Democrats since 1991. 

After serving as a representative for Vermont until 2007, he won the seat of senator in the North-Eastern state.