Does President Biden have Parkinson's?
What the visible symptoms tell us that the White House is not…
As a Parkinson's Fitness Therapy Coach, so many people have been asking me, "So Coach-Jim, does President Biden have Parkinson's disease? What do you think?"
I think one thing... I see multiple "things"... and I believe we all need to "stay in our own lanes" (meaning not cross over where we have no business being...), but people keep asking, so here's what I tell 'em -He's got something wrong, that's for sure, and everyone deserves to know what it is; beginning first with President Joe Biden himself, and then every US Citizen.
If he knows what it is, and it's been positively Diagnosed, that's step #1, now the White House needs to step out and tell the rest of us. My response here is not about privacy, or politics but about patriotism; "the devotion to and vigorous support of one's country." Shuffling your feet on Patriotism is something to be ashamed of; Parkinson's is not... even if your feet shuffle a little.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition that doesn't just mean you take tiny steps and your hand tremors and your balance is unstable, PD, my friends, frequently affects your ability to think straight and can make you subject to dementia, and that is not the steady hand at the helm that our nation needs.
But I'm not sure President Biden has Parkinson's. Am I a Doctor, a Neurologist or Movement Disorder Specialist? No... Am I qualified to diagnose? No... Is any Doctor, Neurologist or Movement Disorder Specialist qualified to diagnose by watching a News clip of the President? You guessed it; NO! *(...and they'd be the first to admit it)
My 40+ years in Fitness Coaching, with the last 8 of them specializing in Parkinson's Fitness Therapy (Boxing, Building & Balancing) and no one, I mean NO One, can guarantee an accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (PD) from watching their TV screen.
We call PD the "Un-One" because it's Un-Predictable, Un-Preventable, Un-Curable and yet it is so Un-Believably Valuable to live in-spite of, and it's because it is Un-ique (unique) amongst Neurological Diseases, many of which can look alike but none others are quite like "The Un-One". Our eyes do not deceive us; this Octagenarian in the Oval Office has something misfiring in his CNS (Central Nervous System), from mis-cued motor control, to botched verbal communication and a facial expression that can look like "eyes wide open & asleep at the wheel"... But that doesn't mean it's Parkinson's that justifies "taking away Grandpa's keys to the Car".
I'm not implying he should (or shouldn't) lead the Free World, I'm actually saying that labeling it as Parkinson's is the "easy out" when actually, it could be something worse. Something that likely motivated one of the most Smile creating, Laughter generating Gentlemen in generations to kill himself - DLB (Dementia w/Lewy Bodies)... R.I.P., Robin Williams.
Williams never actually found out that he'd been suffering from the neurological disease of dementia (Lewy Body) - the diagnosis only came to his widow with a post-mortem autopsy following his death. Medical professionals said it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen...and the world found out the hard way. Robin Williams simply knew that all the doors around his mind must've felt closed and locked away from hope and happiness. We shouldn't want that for anyone; friend, or political foe.
To ask for that to be thrust on anyone is Evil; to allow and insist on hiding it for any older person and forcing them to be thrust into the public eye, is Elder-abuse. Until the White House decides to open the door and invite us in, off the front lawn and out of the downpour of speculation, we'll keep hearing about "does President Biden have Parkinson's?", but Parkinson's can be the Umbrella term that's used to help our "label loving brains" understand what we're seeing on CNN (ok, or Fox).
Don't be shocked when we begin to hear discussions of Dementia w/Lewy Bodies (DBL) and/or Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), they're not exactly the same, though the outcome of both is likely the same for ANYONE holding down the job as the Highest Elected Official of the most powerful nation on earth - Failure... Inevitably, Inept Failure. This can't be "medicated" away by anything available in modern medicine... Especially if its DLB!
The medications my People with Parkinson's (PWP) take are not only less effective (if at all) with DLB, but can possibly even make the symptoms worse if modulated in the wrong amounts, the wrong way at the wrong timing... Perhaps that's why Pres Biden seemed to communicate so effectively at the State of the Union Speech in March, 2024 and just a few months later, after taking more than a week off to prepare, failed spectacularly at the recent Presidential debate.
I work with PWP's who've had Parkinson's for over a decade, diagnosed and medicated, and they know how to time their Med's to be ON when necessary and understand they'll be "OFF" at another time... It's somewhat influenceable, but inevitable.
The Champion of the Parkinson's cause, Actor Michael J Fox, did so for years, perfectly timing his Med's with TV & Movie filming schedule so no one knew he had PD. That was in the first decade or so of his suffering, and we couldn't tell; he's known he had it since 1991. In DLB, cognitive symptoms develop within a year of movement symptoms. People with DLB have a decline in thinking ability that may look somewhat like early Alzheimer's disease. But over time (later), they also develop movement and other distinctive symptoms of DLB, LBD & PD.
So Cognitive, Emotional and Expressive symptoms are generally more "front-loaded" before major Motor-movement problems. Also sleep disruption differs...
When compared to PD (and it's potential Co-symptom of LBD), daytime sleepiness in DLB is often present early in the disease... Does anyone remember years ago when Pres Biden nodded off during important meetings and formal gatherings?!? Not to mention how it's been reported throughout his Presidency of his snippy, snappy, short fuse towards staff members... And this was long before he began shuffling across the White House lawn to the Marine 1 launchpad.
In Parkinson's disease dementia, cognitive symptoms develop more than a year AFTER the onset of movement symptoms (for example, tremor or muscle stiffness). Only approx 20% of PWP's do not show some sort of tremor, and the Medicine's for PD don't often do a great job at hiding such tremors. So for Biden to have PD and have No visible tremor puts him in a real minority of folks. Parkinson's disease dementia starts as a movement disorder, with symptoms such as slowed movement, muscle stiffness, tremor, and a shuffling walk. These symptoms are consistent with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Later on, cognitive symptoms of dementia and changes in mood and behavior may arise.
And they talk about his voice?!? OK, let's talk... Parkinson's turns a loudmouth into a soft spoken whisperer, and by the time that happens, it is rare that they can easily dial it back up. He (Biden) turns his voice ON with TV interviews and has so many instances where he is easy to hear, though not necessarily easy to understand, because his brain is at a loss for words and for what works. But, his ability to project his voice is still there when he's NOT fumbling for the right words... that's not how my PWP's operate.
When he has a Teleprompter to follow, he'll nail every word (and I mean EVERY word, including when he's being directed to "pause" or "breathe deeply").
This is also why what Biden has is not likely something called PSNP (Progressive SupraNuclear Palsy). Eye control and visual acuity is heavily challenged with PSNP, making Teleprompter mastery a rarity, although many of its symptoms overlap with PD as well.
So what's the answer?
Is it PD...or PDD (Parkinson's Disease Dementia) Is it Dementia w/Lewy Bodies?
If it is DBL, there's no surgery for it like there is for Parkinson's, and as mentioned, taking more Med's tends to make it's symptoms worse, sometimes psychotically so. Maybe that's what scared Robin Williams into suicide. As I said, No responsible Physician would dare to guarantee a Parkinson's diagnosis by watching a news clip. And for Dementia w/Lewy Bodies, the diagnosis with absolute certainty is post mortem. No one wants that, yet no one wants to wait too long to learn the truth; time is running out.
So in a "tail wagging the dog" world of politics, who do we believe? Our eyes? The White House? Celebrity Millionaire Donor's who have their own agendas? Howzabout someone who doesn't "have a dog in the fight", as they say... Neither Democrat nor Republican, Dr. Drew Pinsky considers himself, politically at least, libertarian leaning. More importantly, he swore an oath not to a political party, but to the practice of medicine... The Hippocratic Oath, to do no harm.
Here's what he says; "It's never fair to soeculate about the diagnosis...but we're certainly at our liberty to describe what we see... Video that would be exemplary of movement Disorder would be watching Joe Biden walk, watching his arm swing, watching his lack if facial expression... Whether he has Parkinson's disease or not, that's what's not fair... No one should be speculating what his diagnosis is... I can't tell you particularly which one is his (condition), but I can tell you... Nothing we're seeing is particularly reassuring."
-Dr Drew Pinsky
Does President Joe Biden have Parkinson's?
Does it matter? Should anyone be allowed or elected to have their finger on a nuclear trigger, with unsteady hands or mind?
"Nothing we're seeing is particularly reassuring." -Dr Drew Pinsky
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