Washington. US President Joe Biden is suffering from all kinds of aches and pains, but according to his doctors he is perfectly fit for office. The White House released the 81-year-old's latest health checkup on Wednesday (local time). He lists many minor ailments over six pages, including, as in previous years, such uncomfortable things as general „wear and tear” and a „stiff gait.” However, Biden's doctor certifies that the oldest US president ever is „healthy,” „active” and fully capable of performing the duties of his office. However, there are certainly doubts about this matter due to Biden's aging, regular small errors and the recently published explosive investigative report on another matter.

One of the peculiarities of American politics is that presidents must regularly disclose their health condition. This is not legally required, but it has become a kind of ritual that no incumbent can avoid. Once a year, US presidents undergo extensive tests and routine examinations, the results of which are then published in some detail. Biden visited Walter Reed Military Hospital near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Hip problems, breathing problems, but „no tremors.”

The six-page bulletin, which was subsequently issued by his doctor, Kevin O'Connor, said the Democrat was feeling well and there were no new health concerns. However, several of the president's known illnesses were listed. The 81-year-old man had a generalized degeneration of his spine. “The President’s gait remains stiff, but has not worsened since last year,” the doctor wrote. Recently, Biden also had to complain of increased discomfort in his left hip when he was active.

For several months, the world's strongest man has been wearing a breathing mask „almost every night” due to sleep apnea. The doctor wrote that this proved effective. Sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which sufferers experience temporary cessation of breathing during sleep. This means that sufferers do not wake up feeling refreshed in the morning. Biden also suffers from reflux disease. According to the doctor, the gastrointestinal disease means that Biden has to clear his throat and cough often.

What the doctor also indicated, as in previous reports: The president does not smoke or drink alcohol, and he exercises “at least five days a week.” He is 1.83 meters tall and weighs just under 81 kilograms.

The results of the report are very similar to the results of previous studies. However, Biden's age is evident everywhere when reading the bulletin – for example in the comments that there are no signs of possible strokes or Parkinson's disease and that the president has „no tremors.”

The age thing

The president's overall health is generating increasing public interest in the United States. This is even more true for Biden given his age. He moves to the White House in 2021 as the oldest president ever and wants to run for a second term in November. If he manages to do this, he will eventually be 86 years old. Enthusiasm for his re-election campaign is therefore limited in parts of the population and Biden's party.

Biden regularly makes headlines with blunders, slips of the tongue, and simple errors. Republican rivals – led by Biden's potential rival in the November elections, his predecessor Donald Trump – are widely using such gaffes to cast doubt on Biden's mental and physical fitness.

More recently, the publication of an investigative report into the case surrounding Biden's hoarding of classified documents caused a stir because the Democrat was portrayed in the report as a lethargic old man — a „well-meaning old man with a bad memory” and his abilities. To remember was “important” and “limiting.” Biden angrily dismissed the account and claimed his memory was perfectly fine.

It is not a cognitive test

On Wednesday, the White House once again faced several questions about why the president did not also take a mental fitness test during a routine health checkup in order to prove his cognitive abilities. “The president does not need a cognitive test,” Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. This is the unanimous assessment of his doctors. She stressed that he „is subjected to a cognitive test every day as he moves from one subject to another.” Biden has a very difficult job as president and commander-in-chief. „The president has been able to do this job every day for the past three years.”

Trump has also faced doubts about his sanity during his time in office — due to his erratic political style, sometimes chaotic circumstances, and verbal blunders. The Republican decided at that time to examine his mental abilities and take a test used, among other things, for the early detection of suspected cases of dementia and Alzheimer's. The patient should recognize the drawn animals such as a lion, a rhinoceros, or a cube drawing. There are also questions designed to test the ability to concentrate and remember. Trump once managed to get 30 points out of 30 – and he may have hoped that this result would put an end to speculation about his suitability for office. However, this had only limited success. Trump decided not to repeat the test in subsequent years.

Rnd/dpa