The world has become increasingly fascinated by President Joe Biden’s age and health, with some even turning to doctors for snapshot appraisals of the 81-year-old president's ‘freezing’ episodes.
Knewz.com has learned of one such opinion stemming from the inventor of the gold-standard cognitive test, Dr. Ziad Nasreddine.
Speaking to theDaily Mail, Dr. Nasreddine noted that slurred speech is a symptom of Parkinson's disease and is brought on by disrupted secretions of brain hormones responsible for movement.
The latter was broached in the context of Biden’s numerous erroneous speech and movement episodes—and sometimes the complete lack thereof.
The last such occurrence took place while on stage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles. After he completed his speech he stopped moving and seemed to stare in a manner that some describe as “blankly” over the crowd.
According to the Associated Press, the “pause” turned the “star-studded” event into a target for opponents.
This incident was preceded by another moment during the White House Juneteenth celebration. The video of Biden – which even made it onto TikTok – shows the president standing absolutely still, with a half smile on his face while his vice president, Kamala Harris, swayed and clapped to the gospel tunes of Kirk Franklin.
Los Angeles pro-Donald Trump supporter, Dr. Sheila Nazarian, was one of the medical professionals to weigh in on the sighting also hinting at Parkinson’s disease.
In a post to X, the plastic surgeon wrote:
“Frozen (masked faces, diminished arm swing, less frequent blinking, etc) likely due to a central neurological disorder like Parkinson's.”
“If this was just a normal, elderly person, I would not post about it. However, perceived weakness in our commander in chief is a national security threat.”
The disease, according to the Parkinson's Foundation, affects close to 90,000 Americans every year with the current number of people living with it just below 1 million.
The prevalence of the disease increases with age and the majority of instances are seen in people over 65. Notably, more than 3.1% of Americans between the ages of 75 and 84 suffer from the condition, per ACL.
Not all medical professionals think the president is showing signs of Parkinson's.
Dr Elizabeth Landsverk, a geriatrician cited by the Daily Mail, claims that Biden’s cognitive issues are no worse than Trump's.
She observed that the octogenarian made short severe blunders like falling or verbal gaffs but quickly recovered from them.
Trump on the other hand tends to stray from his topics and ramble on for extended periods.
The White House mirrors this opinion with its firm stance that the current president is healthy.
Following a February 28 medical by physician to the president, Kevin O’Connor, it was noted that:
“President Biden is a healthy, active, robust, 81-year-old male, who remains fit to execute the duties of the presidency, to include those as chief executive, head of state and commander in chief,” per the White House.
It was also noted that there was no indication of neurological disorders or Parkinsons.