With Biden as oldest US president in re-election bid, health experts call for ‘complete transparency’
When President Joe Biden introduced his plans to run for a second time period this week, he reignited the controversy about his superior age and the capability of people of that age to serve in the very best workplace in the land.
“We — you and I — together we’re turning things around, and we’re doing it in a big way,” Biden mentioned.
“It’s time to finish the job. Finish the job,” he mentioned.
Biden — who turned 80 final fall, on Nov. 20, 2022 — surpassed former President Reagan as the nation’s oldest serving president.
BIDEN AS OLDEST US PRESIDENT AT AGE 80: NATION DESERVES A ‘FULL NEUROLOGICAL ASSESSMENT’ OF HIM
His re-election marketing campaign has many individuals questioning: Is there an age that’s too outdated for somebody to be president?
“I think it’s a legitimate thing to be concerned about anyone’s age, including mine,” Biden himself instructed MSNBC again in October.
President Joe Biden, age 80, introduced this week that he would search re-election. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
He added, “But I think the best way to make the judgment is to watch me.”
When the Founding Fathers, who had been largely in their early 40s, had been discussing and deciding the age of the president in 1787, they had been extra involved with somebody showing “too youthful” than too outdated, in line with History.com.
Article II of the U.S. Constitution specifies a minimal age — 35 — for somebody to be president of the United States with out setting a most age restrict, the identical web site additionally notes.
‘Vigorous 80-year-old male’
President Biden obtained a clear invoice of health in February from White House doctor Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, who concluded that Biden is “a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male.”
President Biden has a previous medical historical past important for non-valvular atrial fibrillation, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergic reactions and gentle sensory peripheral neuropathy of his ft, in line with his Feb. 2023 health abstract. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
President Biden has a previous medical historical past important for non-valvular atrial fibrillation, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergic reactions and gentle sensory peripheral neuropathy of his ft, in line with his February 16, 2023, health abstract.
What is atrial fibrillation?
The coronary heart consists of two higher chambers, referred to as the atria, that pumps blood into its two decrease chambers, identified as ventricles, per the American Heart Association.
It usually contracts and relaxes to a daily beat. But in atrial fibrillation — or aFib — the atria beat irregularly in order that blood doesn’t movement into the ventricles effectively, the affiliation added.
This can result in blood clots.
Biden is on the blood thinner referred to as Eliquis.
“If a clot breaks off, enters the bloodstream and lodges in an artery leading to the brain, a stroke results,” the cardiology affiliation famous on its web site.
MINNESOTA WORLD WAR II VETERAN CELEBRATES TURNING 100, WISHES TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE ‘HAD MORE BACKBONE’
Depending on folks’s threat components, together with superior age, some are prescribed blood thinners to forestall this complication — together with Biden, who’s on the blood thinner referred to as Eliquis, as of February 2023.
‘Stiffened gait,’ throat clearing
The medical report addressed his stiffened gait, noting that the situation has not worsened since final 12 months.
A staff of specialists concluded the gait is the results of degenerative or “wear-and-tear” arthritic modifications in his backbone.
A staff of specialists concluded that President Biden’s stiffened gait is the results of degenerative or “wear-and-tear” arthritic modifications in his backbone. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
An in depth neurological examination was “reassuring” in that there have been no findings to recommend a neurological dysfunction, such as a stroke, a number of sclerosis, Parkinson’s illness or ascending lateral sclerosis.
The report additionally attributed his persistent coughing and throat-clearing as a consequence of his acid reflux disorder.
A complete neurologic examination reconfirmed the gentle peripheral neuropathy in his ft.
Basal cell most cancers
Biden additionally had a suspicious pores and skin lesion eliminated on his chest throughout his bodily in February, with the ultimate biopsy outcome revealing basal cell carcinoma.
Basel cell most cancers is the commonest most cancers in the world, in line with the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD).
Biden continues to bear “dermatological surveillance.”
Because it tends to develop slowly and barely spreads to different elements of the physique, it’s not life-threatening for most individuals, the affiliation added.
“You have a greater risk of developing this skin cancer if you’ve seldom protected your skin from the sun throughout your life or used tanning beds,” the AAD famous on its web site.
SECRETS OF STAYING AGELESS: FOUR FLORIDA REVEAL HOW TO HIT A HOME RUN FOR GOOD HEALTH
Biden spent plenty of time in the solar throughout this youth, the health abstract famous. All cancerous tissue was eliminated, the biopsy website healed appropriately, and Biden continues to bear “dermatological surveillance.”
Oldest presidents in workplace
Former President Ronald Reagan, the nation’s fortieth president, was virtually 78 years outdated on the finish of his second time period in January 1989, in line with the History.com web site.
President Ronald Reagan pictured on the Durenberger Republican conference Rally, 1982. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
While in workplace, he survived an assassination try as properly as surgical procedure to take away a cancerous polyp in the colon — proving resilience is a top quality not reserved for solely the youth, History added.
Reagan famously deflected consideration away from his age with humor through the 1984 debate with Democratic opponent Walter Mondale, joking, “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
“I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald J. Trump, was 74 years and 200 days outdated when he left workplace, in line with History. In an unique interview with Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel in July 2020, Trump mentioned he might efficiently recall a sequence of 5 phrases on a cognitive screening check.
BIDEN PRESSED ABOUT AGE IN 2024 RACE, ADMITS HE ‘CAN’T EVEN SAY THE NUMBER’
James Buchanan left workplace after just one time period, at 69 years and 315 days outdated.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was 70 years and 98 days outdated when he left workplace in January 1961.
Former President Dwight Eisenhower, who served as commander in chief from 1953 to 1961. He was 70 years outdated when he left workplace. (Associated Press)
He survived an enormous coronary heart assault scare the 12 months earlier than he received re-election, per the History.com website.
But James Buchanan, our nation’s fifteenth president, had his health deteriorate whereas in workplace due to the stress of the job. He left workplace after just one time period, at 69 years and 315 days outdated, the identical supply famous.
JUST 11 MINUTES OF EXERCISE CAN REDUCE RISK OF EARLY DEATH, RESEARCHERS FIND
A 2011 research on the getting older of U.S. presidents discovered that the lads in the White House tended to reside longer as soon as inaugurated, in comparison with males of the identical age — “even if they hypothetically aged at twice the normal rate while in office.”
The research famous, “All living presidents have either already exceeded the estimated life span of all U.S. men at their age of inauguration or are likely to do so.”
Experts call for ‘full cognitive testing’
Not all experts, nonetheless, agree that the medical report in February 2023 adequately assessed Biden’s practical and psychological standing.
“Dr. Kevin O’Connor, his physician, has asserted repeatedly in reports on yearly physicals that the president is fit, mentally and physically, and he has included reference to examinations by neurologists and orthopedists,” Dr. Siegel, professor of medication at NYU Langone Medical Center, wrote not way back in The New York Post.
President Joe Biden arrives to ship remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP through Getty Images)
“What is missing is any MRI report and full cognitive testing.”
Siegel argued that Dr. O’Connor hadn’t “addressed directly a possible link between a worsening gait and a neurodegenerative process involving the frontal lobe of the brain or spinal cord or the possible buildup of fluid (normal pressure hydrocephalus), which could cause both a gait and a cognitive problem.”
He advocated for Biden to have a complete cognitive neuropsychiatric check — as Trump did with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment whereas in workplace — and to launch it publicly, as his predecessor did.
Factors price contemplating in addition to age
Other experts recommend Biden will proceed to perform properly regardless of being in his golden years.
“Is there a gait or balance disorder that could lead to a fall due to normal [age-related] changes in walking?”
“I see many [80-year-olds] who are healthier and have better physical and cognitive function than others in their 60s and 70s,” Dr. R. Sean Morrison, chair of the division of geriatrics on the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, instructed Fox News Digital.
“What I can say is that age alone is not a factor in determining a person’s ability or job performance,” added Morrison, who emphasised he could not touch upon any particular person particular person.
WEIGHT LOSS IN OLDER ADULTS ASSOCIATED WITH RISK OF DEATH, STUDY SHOWS
“Throughout our lifespan we experience normal age-related changes in our physiology,” Morrison defined.
“As such, for anyone over the age of 70, there should be a focus on four key components in a health care evaluation.” This consists of: 1) mobility; 2) evaluating for continual situations; 3) psychological health; and 4) what’s most vital to the person at that stage in life, Morrison mentioned.
President Joe Biden speaks throughout a State of the Union tackle on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
When reviewing the affected person’s historical past for mobility points, Morrison mentioned he would ask, “Is there a gait or balance disorder that could lead to a fall due to normal [age-related] changes in walking?”
As folks age, the danger of growing particular ailments and continual situations will increase, so these ailments, such as arthritis, hypertension, diabetes and osteoporosis, must be appropriately recognized and handled, Morrison mentioned.
An individual’s “mentation” ought to be assessed — as “Alzheimer’s and other related dementias increase in prevalence with aging and should be screened for the same way we screen for high blood pressure or diabetes,” he added.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But the health care examination ought to be customized to “what is important to you [and] what matters most for your health care.”
Dr. Siegel acknowledged that experts who don’t personally look at President Biden “are not in a position to assess presidential fitness via a video clip or past the smokescreen of a president’s handlers.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
He mentioned, “All we can ask for is complete transparency — especially when it comes to an aged president with multiple medical problems that could interfere with function — transparency that we clearly aren’t getting.”
