White House confirms Biden, 80, now on ventilator to treat sleep disorder — after thick mask lines on his face raised more health questions
- President Joe Biden has started using a CPAP machine
- The machine treats sleep apnea
- Biden’s sleep apnea has been widely known since 2008
President Joe Biden, 80, emerged from the White House residence on Wednesday with visible cuts on his face — as he now uses a CPAP machine to treat his sleep apnea.
Since 2008, the president has disclosed his history of sleep apnea in thorough medical reports. He used a CPAP machine last night, which is common for people with that history,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told DailyMail.com when asked about the marks on the president’s face.
In recent weeks, the president began using the continuous positive airway pressure machine — popularly known as CPAP — to treat apnea, where a patient’s breathing stops and starts.
Biden’s sleep apnea has been public knowledge since October 2008, when the Obama campaign released the vice presidential candidate’s medical records ahead of the 2008 presidential election.
At the time, doctors believed Biden’s irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, was likely related to his sleep apnea.
Streaks on President Joe Biden’s face as he left for Chicago on Wednesday prompted the White House to tell reporters he has started using a CPAP machine
A CPAP — or continuous positive airway pressure — machine corrects sleep apnea, where patients stop and start breathing while they sleep, which can cause much more serious health problems
In subsequent health reports, the sleep apnea became a footnote.
In a December 2019 medical report, made public while Biden was running for president, his now White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor said that obstructive sleep apnea had been considered, but Biden’s condition had improved after undergoing sinus and nasal cavity surgery. .
A CPAP machine blows air into the back of the throat to relieve a condition called obstructive sleep apnea, in which muscles in the throat relax and block the airways.
As a result, patients cannot breathe for a while and they wake up.
They can also snore extremely loudly.
Over time, the repeated interruptions of oxygen supply and disruption of sleep can have life-threatening consequences, increasing the levels of stress hormones in the body.
Untreated sleep apnea is closely linked to serious health problems, including diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.
People over age 60 with sleep apnea also have a higher incidence of sudden cardiac arrest.
There were lines on President Joe Biden’s face as he left the White House on Wednesday to deliver a ‘Bidenomics’ speech in Chicago
The mask lines were evident as the president held a Q&A with reporters on the South Lawn before his trip to Chicago on Wednesday
At 80, Biden is the oldest president in the country — which is why the White House is constantly questioned about his health.
Other 2024 candidates have used it as a talking point – most notably the former UN ambassador. Nikki Haley, who said all hopefuls over the age of 75 must submit to a mental competence test.
Bloomberg confirmed for the first time Biden used the device.
A source told the news service that while Biden’s use of the machine is a new development, it was not prompted by a new medical condition or environmental conditions.
Biden flew to Chicago amid an air quality alert due to Canadian wildfires.
When the president left Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning, the capital was also under an air quality warning until Thursday afternoon.