President Joe Biden’s campaign is doing damage control after his stuttering and confused performance during the first presidential debate broadcast on CNN.
A White House official has explained the 81-year-old’s slow speech, long pauses and hoarse voice as the result of “a cold” that ‘got underway’.
Many have doubted this, with Trump supporters suggesting it is a mask for more serious degenerative conditions that would leave him unable to hold the top job.
Even Democrats have called for a reconsideration, with some even demanding that the US president resign.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, experts have revealed whether a cold is actually the cause of the president’s bizarre symptoms.
After Biden lost his train of thought at one point and stared blankly into space, Donald Trump said: ‘I really don’t know what he just said’
Joe Biden and Jill Biden pictured leaving the debate stage in Atlanta, Georgia last night
They say a respiratory virus like a cold could actually cause a number of cognitive symptoms in someone Biden’s age, and leave him generally weak and seriously unwell.
Dr. Liz Landsverk, a geriatrician in San Francisco, California, said, “Some elderly people can become quite ill because they don’t have very strong immune systems.
“A cold can make the brain a little foggy, and it can make (older adults) a little slower…”
Seniors with colds and flu are also more vulnerable to serious and potentially life-threatening bacterial infections.
According to CDC data, between 70 and 90 percent of the 34,000 annual flu deaths in the U.S. occur among people age 65 and older.
Other respiratory viruses that cause cold symptoms kill at least 6,000 adults aged 65 or older each year, while hospitalizing 60,000 to 160,000.
When the immune system is called in to fight infection, proteins are released that disrupt the hormone balance in the brain, which can slow reaction time.
Research has shown that people who have a cold perform less well in everyday tasks, such as driving a car.
According to experts, a cold can be especially harmful to people of a certain age, because older people have a weaker immune system and are therefore less able to fight infections.
It also means older adults could be sick for three weeks, instead of the typical seven to 10 days it normally lasts.
Scientists suspect that a cold can cause a kind of mental confusion similar to the confusion caused by a hangover.
Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, a neurologist in Canada, said: ‘In general, a cold can slow down an older person.’
He added that taking cold medicines can increase symptoms such as confusion, due to their calming effect. Calming medications can also cause slurred speech.
Dr. Thomas Moore, an infectious disease expert in Kansas, added that it’s possible a cold could also lead to poor performance in a simpler way — by disrupting the president’s sleep.
A stuffy or blocked nose can lead to poor sleep, made worse by stress, which can lead to difficulty concentrating the next day.
Yes, Trump made wild accusations and even the odd outright lie, regularly failed to answer the question and must have paralyzed the fact-checking machine at times. But his voice was strong, his answers clear, his discipline unusually impressive.
There are also concerns about Biden’s underlying heart condition, an irregular heartbeat. Experts say a cold can put additional strain on the heart, making his condition worse.
Doctors say people with atrial fibrillation should be extra careful with cold medicines, because some can trigger more frequent episodes of the condition. Doctors warn people with the condition to avoid cold medications such as Sudafed.
The president also has trouble sleeping and needs a CPAP machine. According to experts, a cold can further disrupt patients’ breathing.
However, experts suspect that Biden’s symptoms are likely the result of underlying conditions that are much more serious than a cold.
Dr Robert Howard, an expert in geriatric psychiatry at University College London in the UK, told the DailyMail: ‘These swings and lapses in attention (that Biden has) are a key symptom of Parkinson’s disease.
“Doctors can’t diagnose without examining someone, but based on the footage of the debate I watched, I’m concerned about the freezing and walking that Biden is having trouble maintaining attention.
“There are times when he seems to have lost the thread, but there are also times when he can’t stop rambling.”
Dr. Fischer added that He believed Biden’s hoarse voice and poor performance were likely caused by a stimulant, such as Adderall.
This can cause the blood vessels to constrict, leading to a decrease in saliva production, causing a very dry mouth.