When Health Meets Politics: Joe Biden's Surprising Exit from the 2024 Race

The 2024 U.S. presidential elections are underway and have been all but uneventful. With an assassination attempt and plenty of plot twists, it's been worthy of a Hollywood movie. But perhaps the biggest shocker came when Joe Biden, the Democrat candidate and current president, dropped out of the race mere months before the election.

Just a few months ago, the White House doctor confirmed Joe Biden was a "healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male fit to continue his presidential duties" after his physical exam. So what happened? Why did it come to this?

In this blog post, we'll try to uncover the current state of Joe Biden's health based on what we've seen in the media.

Before we move on, it's important to know that these are perceived health issues. Since the official doctor's statement hasn't changed, it could be due to other factors like personal choice or political pressure.

What Led to Calls for Biden to Retire from Politics?

The situation is serious. Being president is a demanding job on the body and mind. In recent years, more and more people have worried about how old some candidates are and if they can handle the seat.

Let's face it: Joe Biden is no spring chicken. The president will turn 82 in November and was already our oldest sitting president when he first sat down in the Oval Office. Even still, his first term seemed to be going well until this re-election campaign.

The problems began with the first debate between Joe Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump. Experts said that our president seemed to be struggling a bit. His body looked stiff like he was uncomfortable. Sometimes, he had trouble getting his words out right, and he seemed lost at times.

His voice wasn't as strong as we're used to hearing from presidents. Think back to how Barack Obama or John F. Kennedy sounded - they had voices that could fill a room. Biden's voice just didn't have that same commanding power.

Even Biden himself said he "screwed up" and made a "mistake" with his poor performance. He asked voters to judge him on his time in the White House instead.

Sadly, the talk had already started, and many urged him to step down.

The Parkinson's Debate

After that first debate, rumors started flying. Some people wondered if maybe the president had Parkinson's Disease. The Michael J. Fox Foundation says over 6 million people worldwide have the disease, a brain problem that affects how people move and keep their balance.

Parkinson's happens when brain cells that make a chemical called dopamine, which helps control movement, start to die. As these cells die, people with Parkinson's have trouble moving normally.

Here are some signs of Parkinson's:

Shaking, often starting in the hands

Stiff muscles

Slow movement

Balance problems

Changes in speaking and writing

But it turns out this wasn't the case for the U.S. President.

The president's doctor said Biden doesn't have Parkinson's and that they didn't see any signs of it. He also noted that a brain doctor's visit to the White House had nothing to do with the president's health.

What is Cognitive Deterioration?

Even though Parkinson's was ruled out, it brings up an interesting topic.

Cognition is how our brain learns, remembers, and makes decisions. When these brain processes get worse, it's called cognitive deterioration. This can make it hard to make choices, solve problems, and think critically.

Dementia is a common cause of cognitive deterioration. It can be caused by different things like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke.

These are diseases that get worse over time and can make it harder to think clearly. What we're seeing with Biden might be the very beginning of cognitive deterioration, but we can't know for sure.

The Difficult Topic of Getting Old

On a lighter note, it's possible that the president's thinking problems could just be a normal part of getting older. As we age, our brains change. It's common to have some memory loss or think more slowly, without it being dangerous or a sign of a bigger problem.

We don't talk enough about what happens when people start to slow down as they get older. It's a tough topic but an important one. Getting old is something that happens to many folks, and it can be challenging to deal with. It's not just about losing your abilities- it's about losing a piece of your independence.

However, in general, we can speculate that the cause is cognitive deterioration.

Louise Aronson Remarks

Louise Aronson wrote an interesting article about the topic. Here's a part we found interesting:

"For months, I wished I could have Biden in my exam room, not as the president, but as a patient in my older adult clinic. Watching from far away as he insisted on running, I wondered if his doctors were talking to him honestly about his worrying symptoms and his low chances of doing the job for another term. I hoped that if they were talking about his future, they were pointing out the good things about taking charge in this situation, even when no choice was perfect for Biden. But, based on what they and the president said in public before he ended his campaign, I worried that little of this was happening. Even though the U.S. population is getting older, few doctors are trained to care for aging bodies, much less to talk about the stages of getting older and the hard realities of later life."

This is really interesting because Aronson is looking at Biden as a geriatric patient - that's just a medical term for an older person who needs special care. She's giving us a doctor's point of view.

We should also think about "ageism" - treating people unfairly because of their age - and how it affects talks about Biden's age.

Joe Biden's Bout With Covid

Let's switch gears a bit. This next part isn't specifically about why the president dropped out of the race, but it does relate to his health.

Recently, the president received a Covid-19 diagnosis, something that had been a worry during his whole time as president. Because he's older, this brings up interesting questions. Luckily, the president's symptoms were mild. He had a runny nose and cough and just felt unwell. But let's look closer at what COVID-19 means for people over 80.

Back when Covid first showed up in 2020, if you were over 80 and got sick, you had about a 15% chance of dying. Today, for some people with other health problems (like heart disease or diabetes), the threat from COVID-19 is much less than it used to be.

First, most people have some protection against COVID now, either from shots or from having had it before, and for many, both. In Biden's case, the president had caught COVID twice before.

When our bodies meet a virus, our immune system makes antibodies to fight it. These antibodies stay in our system and help fight off future infections of the same virus. Vaccines work in a similar way.

The Official Address to The Nation

Now, we come to the big moment where all these health issues came together. Biden recently sat at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office and told the nation why he decided to drop out. This moment should have shown not only how vulnerable he is as an aging person but also how strong and tough he is when facing hard times.

It's worth noting that he didn't stumble over his words as much, but he did read from a teleprompter (which isn't unusual for a president to do).

However, some people, like Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, worried that he didn't show much emotion, given how serious the situation was. It's possible that he's feeling depressed because of how big this decision is.

When someone feels sadness or hopelessness for a prolonged period, we call that depression. The disorder changes how you think, how you feel, and how you act. Depression can make it hard to do everyday things or enjoy life.

Final Thoughts

The president of the United States has a crucial job. They must be ready to face any and all challenges, both physical and mental. These recent events have brought up the debate about the president's age again. Why do we keep electing older presidents? Should there be an age limit for this job?

Even though this was a very public case, cognitive decline affects millions of people, especially as they get older. It's essential to take care of our mental health at all ages and deal with any problems that come up.

Telehealth is becoming more popular and important for getting help. It's an easy way to get mental health services.

Let's end on a positive note. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and there's no shame in asking for help when you need it. As a society, we need to keep fighting the idea that mental health problems are something to be embarrassed about. We should make our well-being a top priority so we can all live our best lives.