Parkinson’s experts reveal how bad Joe Biden’s health could get in the next four years
The Biden administration must fend off uncomfortable questions about whether the president has Parkinson’s disease.
Visitor logs show that a doctor specializing in parkinsonism (a collective term for brain disorders that cause slow movements, stiffness and tremors) visited the White House eight times in eight months last year.
The official explanation for at least one of those visits was incorrect and had to be corrected by the president’s spokesman last night, raising suspicions and concerns about Biden’s health.
Several doctors told DailyMail.com months ago that they suspected Biden, 81, had Parkinson’s disease, but many wished to remain anonymous for fear of negative reactions.
Now they’re speaking out about what the next four years could look like if the president does indeed have the condition.
They believe that the public should know what they are getting into.
The three symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include forgetting words (shown)
A stiff gait
Walking problems occur in 90 percent of Parkinson’s patients
Dr. W. Chris Winter is a Virginia neurologist who has treated hundreds of patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Abhi Kapuria is also a neurologist at the University of North Carolina. Both declined to perform an “online diagnosis” and reiterated that they had not examined him in person.
However, they did say they suspected neurological problems. Dr. Winter said President had a “laundry list” of the hallmark symptoms of the condition, from a stiff gait and balance problems to a soft voice and slurring his words.
In an effort to convince voters and Democrats that Biden is fit enough to win the election year and serve another term, the president and his team have promised he will get more rest and stop performing his duties after 8 p.m.
But Dr. Kapuria and Dr. Winter told this website that if the president does indeed have Parkinson’s disease, the symptoms cannot be alleviated with rest.
They said that within five to 10 years of diagnosis, patients’ speech becomes increasingly soft and unclear.
Walking becomes more difficult and patients experience persistent fatigue.
But if patients aren’t treated — and the White House claims Biden isn’t — they can deteriorate much more quickly.
Doctors warned that the president would likely continue to experience the same symptoms with increasing frequency over the next 12 months.
“So there’s more falls, more cognitive impairment, I saw him freeze on Juneteenth — it’s just more of that,” Dr. Winters said.
Dr. Winters warned that Biden could be at risk for other complications within three to four years.
This means that he lies awake at night and has trouble falling asleep. He also suffers from nightmares and hallucinations, which makes him increasingly tired and confused during the day.
It is also possible that he deteriorates to the point that he is cognitively ‘not present much anymore’. That is, he appears distant and distracted and has difficulty interacting with employees and advisors.
Parkinson’s disease has five stages, with moderate Parkinson’s being classified as stage 2 or 3. Here the symptoms are noticeable and limit a person in his/her daily life.
Dr. Winters doesn’t use the staging system, but believes Biden certainly has at least a moderate form of Parkinson’s disease. He said the disease was definitely affecting his daily life.
In severe forms of Parkinson’s disease (stage four), patients can stand unaided, but may need a cane or walker to stay upright.
Biden looking sharp (left) during a debate for the Democratic nomination in 2019 and the ailing president in 2024
They are likely to have cognitive impairment or dementia. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, only 30 percent of patients do not develop dementia if they have the disease.
In stage five, the final stage of the disease, patients are often bedridden and can only move around in a wheelchair. Stiffness in their legs makes it impossible to stand or walk.
Dr. Kapuria warned that if Biden did indeed have Parkinson’s disease, further deterioration would be seen within his second term.
He said the president still appeared well enough to no longer need a wheelchair by the end of his term, but added that people with Parkinson’s disease can deteriorate rapidly, especially if left untreated.
After about ten years of living with the disease, most patients have at least one major problem, such as dementia or a physical disability.
Experts fear that going untreated combined with a grueling schedule — like his four-month presidential campaign — only increases the risk of the disease progressing more quickly.
They also stressed that if the president has Parkinson’s disease, the condition will not get better, it will only stay the same or get worse.
About one million Americans have Parkinson’s disease, which is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the US after Alzheimer’s disease.
It is a progressive disease caused by the deterioration of neurons in the basal ganglia, an area at the base of the brain that regulates movement.
This causes less dopamine in this brain area, a neurotransmitter, which causes problems with movement and makes people stiffer.
The decrease in dopamine is also thought to be linked to the cognitive problems associated with it, such as attention problems, memory and language problems, and slower speed of mental processing.
Doctors stress that the condition is not fatal, but there is an increased risk of life-threatening complications.
Patients are at greater risk of falling due to balance and movement problems. In the elderly, this can be fatal in the long term due to the risk of serious injury.
Patients are also at greater risk of swallowing and coughing up fluids into their lungs, increasing the risk of pneumonia. This is also more dangerous in older adults.
It is estimated that patients with stage five Parkinson’s disease can normally expect to live only six to 12 months.
Research shows that nearly 50 percent of people diagnosed at age 70 die within ten years, compared to 20 percent of people who do not have the disease.
Biden was pictured stumbling on the steps of Air Force One in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2021. The steps have since been shortened
There are medications available to treat the condition, which doctors claim are “highly effective” and can “bring someone back from the dead.”
The main drug is Levodopa, a pill that is taken orally several times a day and provides the building blocks for dopamine. This increases the amount of dopamine in the brain, allowing a person to behave normally again.
According to Dr. Winter, patients have undergone a dramatic transformation thanks to the drug: they behave almost normally again.
“This drug can ‘bring people back from the dead,'” he said. “I have families of patients who come to me and say, ‘Oh, Dr. Winter, his speech has changed overnight, he walks more confidently, he has the same facial expressions again.'”
‘In some patients, the effect is completely gone when they wake up. But if they take Levodopa within a few minutes, they are completely alert again. But then they seem to drop out again when the effect has worn off.
“It actually becomes a coordinated effort, where you administer it so often that you never crash.”
Other treatments include physical therapy and yoga. These treatments are used to strengthen muscles and help patients walk in a way that minimizes the risk of falling.
