Health
Doctors react after Biden’s live address to the nation: A concerning ‘lack of emotion’
After President Joe Biden’s address to the nation Wednesday night, multiple doctors shared their opinions with Fox News Digital about his perceived health status based on his live speech.
Seated in the Oval Office, the president spoke relatively briefly about his withdrawal from the 2024 race and his commitment to continuing to serve the country for the next few months.
He did not mention his recent COVID-19 infection, ongoing concerns about his cognitive health, or the recent assassination attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump.
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Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor — who has never treated the president — noted that Biden seemed to be reading from a teleprompter on Wednesday night, as he often does, making it difficult for those watching to gauge his medical fitness.
Although Biden stumbled over his words a few times, Siegel was more concerned about the president’s apparent “lack of emotion.”
President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, about his decision to drop his Democratic presidential reelection bid. (Getty Images)
“It is a very emotional time for him and he isn’t showing it,” the doctor told Fox News Digital after the speech. “He seems to lack conviction.”
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Siegel expressed concern that Biden “could be depressed and shocked by the current reality.”
“I feel compassion for him,” Siegel went on. “How can he quote from the Declaration [of Independence] without much conviction? I feel bad for him and for us.”
“It is a very emotional time for him and he isn’t showing it.”
Dr. Robert Lufkin, a California-based physician and medical school professor at UCLA and USC, also weighed in on Biden.
Lufkin noted that he has never examined Biden, but offered his observations based on Wednesday’s speech and recent media events.
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In previous appearances, Biden has shown signs of “cognitive deterioration,” the doctor told Fox News Digital.
“The findings in his previous presentations could have a variety of causes, including sleep deprivation, sedation, metabolic abnormalities or even neurodegenerative diseases.”
From left to right, Dr. Earnest Lee Murray; Dr. Marc Siegel; and Dr. Robert Lufkin offered observations about the president’s Wednesday night speech. (Dr. Earnest Lee Murray; Dr. Marc Siegel; Dr. Robert Lufkin)
Tonight’s short presentation appeared to be read from a teleprompter, Lufkin agreed — “which is less demanding than the more spontaneous Q&A debate format of some of his previous events.”
In previous appearances, such as the June 27 debate, Biden has shown “confused rambling, sudden loss of train of thought in the middle of a sentence, halting speech, and the repeated use of the word ‘anyway’ when lost in a sentence,” Lufkin noted.
“Tonight, we did not see these in his presentation,” he said. “His delivery was fairly uniform without interruptions.”
The fact that these findings were less apparent tonight could be due to the speech format of the presentation and use of a teleprompter, according to Lufkin.
Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. “That format is much less challenging and less likely to uncover pathology than a more rigorous Q&A exchange or debate format,” a doctor told Fox News Digital. (Evan Vucci, Pool via AP)
“That format is much less challenging and less likely to uncover pathology than a more rigorous Q&A exchange or debate format,” he went on.
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He said he hoped that “continued interactions with Mr. Biden in various presentation formats will allow us to understand his situation in more detail.”
“I suspect the stress of trying to run for office and be president was leading to even worse daily cognitive performance,” said a neurologist on Wednesday night after watching Biden’s speech. Above, the president on Wednesday after returning to public view after nearly a week of seclusion due to COVID. (Getty Images)
Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, said the speech from the Oval Office was “clearly better” for Biden than the debate, but also noted that the president struggled at times with reading from the teleprompter.
Murray has not treated or examined Biden.
“Reading simple passages do become difficult in patients with dementia,” he told Fox News Digital, expressing a professional opinion in general about such cases.
The president struggled at times with reading from the teleprompter.
“Patients with a dementing process have significant difficulties with multitasking,” said Murray, again speaking generally.
“President Biden seemed more rested and relaxed tonight,” Murray said.
“I suspect the stress of trying to run for office and be president was leading to even worse daily cognitive performance,” he also said.
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In response to earlier outreach from Fox News Digital, the White House press office said that “health was not a factor” in the president’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race.
“He looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people,” the White House said in its statement.
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Health
Switching from cigarettes to vapes linked to higher risk of major eye diseases, large study finds
US cigarette smoking drops to record low, vaping and nicotine pouch use surges
Fox News medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel discusses a New England Journal of Medicine study reporting US adult cigarette smoking rates dropped to a record low of 9.9% in 2024. Siegel warns about the addictive nature of vaping and nicotine pouches, which contain high levels of nicotine. He expresses concern over potential GI tract and heart issues, stressing social media’s role in promoting these products to younger generations.
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Switching from cigarettes to electronic vapes is often seen as a healthier move, but a massive nationwide study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that smokeless alternatives could increase the risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine altogether.
Researchers from the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, analyzed health data from a group of 179,273 adults through the Korean National Health Insurance Service, according to a press release.
All participants had smoked traditional cigarettes between 2011 and 2012 and then quit smoking by 2018 or 2019, they reported.
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To ensure a fair comparison, the researchers paired up participants who shared similar backgrounds, including their age, gender, medical history, existing health conditions and general lifestyle habits.
Switching from cigarettes to electronic vapes is often seen as a healthier move, but a large study suggests it could pose a risk to eye health. (iStock)
This process created a balanced group of 32,316 matched participants, who were divided into two categories: complete quitters who stopped using all nicotine products and those who transitioned to smokeless nicotine products, such as vapes.
The researchers followed the participants for an average of 4.6 years to determine whether they developed eye conditions, including cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and focus-related eyesight disorders.
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Over the tracking period, the group experienced a total of 6,328 major eye disease events. People who quit nicotine entirely had the lowest disease rate in the study, at 41.1 cases per 1,000 person-years (a measure that accounts for both the number of people in the study and how long they were followed).
In comparison, that rate rose to 44 cases for individuals who had switched over to smokeless alternatives like vapes.
The people included in the study were divided into two main categories: complete quitters who stopped using all nicotine products, and switchers who transitioned to smokeless tobacco or nicotine products, like vapes. (iStock)
Ultimately, the data showed that switching to alternative nicotine products carried a steady 7% increased risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine completely.
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Most notably, those who switched faced a 24% higher risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, a condition that damages the blood vessels in the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
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Additionally, those who ditched cigarettes for vapes had a 7% higher risk of developing refractive and accommodation disorders, which affect the eye’s ability to focus clearly.
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“These findings challenge the assumption that substituting noncombustible nicotine or tobacco products for conventional cigarettes is visually harmless,” the researchers noted.
“These findings challenge the assumption that substituting noncombustible nicotine or tobacco products for conventional cigarettes is visually harmless,” the researchers noted. (iStock)
The authors did point out a few limitations of the research. Because this was a study looking back at health insurance data, it cannot definitively prove that vaping directly causes eye damage.
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Additionally, the study relied on people filling out questionnaires about their own smoking and vaping habits, which can sometimes lead to underreporting or simple memory errors.
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Still, the researchers concluded the findings suggest that replacing cigarettes with alternative nicotine products may not eliminate the risk of certain eye diseases.
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