How is Joe Biden? While the Washington Post also questions the health of the President of the United States, speaking of “signs of decline” according to the confessions of those who have known him for some time, his images at the G7 are criticized by which he claims that he is not healthy enough for another sent to the White House. The accusations are always that of appearing “lost” or “disoriented”. And there are also those who invent hoaxes. But according to Evaristo Ettorre, professor and director of the specialization school in Geriatrics at the Sapienza University of Rome and director of the Uoc of Geriatrics at the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome, a distinction must be made. «Undoubtedly, given the videos, we are not faced with a brilliant character who is ‘on the mark’. But these behaviors are not necessarily symptoms of a pathology”, he says today to Fatto Quotidiano.
The president’s health
According to Ettorre, Joe Biden «is capable of moving forward». As long as he has “adequate support”. The professor began: no long-term prognosis. And he explains that in any case we are talking about “a person over eighty who certainly has a higher level of work activity, including responsibility, than the average of his peers”. Then he gets to the point: «If we wanted to think in more mischievous, less technical and less clinical terms, they certainly don’t denote a brilliant character, a character who, as they say, is ‘on the ball’. But objectively this can depend on many situations. I read that last night (Thursday, ed.) for example he abandoned a commitment with our President of the Republic. Now what the reasons may be we cannot know. But undoubtedly Biden is an old man who shows his age in a particular situation.”
A geriatric disease
Ettorre wonders if Biden does not suffer from a geriatric pathology: «The problem is to understand if these moments of emptiness are linked to what the subject does in relation to the circumstance in which it is highlighted. The age-old problem for us geriatricians who also deal with problems related to brain aging is always understanding how much of that problem is linked to the physiological transformation of our cognitive mechanism or whether there is an anomaly called disease.” The professor claims that yes, Biden is capable of addressing a global summit like the G7 but «with adequate support. Even having seen the videos, I would not say that you are not capable of dealing with such a challenging situation on a global level.”
The renomination
And when asked about his ability to face the re-nomination for the presidency of the United States, Ettorre replies: «In principle I wouldn’t feel like excluding him, despite the partiality of my position. But he must be well supported, obviously. Then of course, I also think that in general we need a renewal and that the elderly are a resource, but it must also be adapted to the role that the elderly must play.” Also because, the doctor reasons, there is Donald Trump on the other side. «And here too we are not talking about a 50-year-old», he concludes.
