Biden has started using a machine to breathe better while he sleeps

Joe Biden, president of the United States, during a press conference on Wednesday in Chicago.ALEX WROBLEWSKI (EFE)

U.S. President Joe Biden is increasingly joking about his age. He makes jokes and downplays the fact that he is 80 years old and that, if he is re-elected in 2024, he could end a hypothetical second term at 86 years old. However, despite the jokes, his body and sometimes his head often fail. On Wednesday he had one of his usual lapses when he argued that Vladimir Putin is losing "the Iraq war." Hours later, the White House confirmed, following a Bloomberg report, that the president is using a machine to breathe better at night.

According to official information, Biden has begun using a continuous positive airway pressure machine, or CPAP, to treat long-term sleep apnea. When Biden, 80, left the White House on Wednesday to deliver a speech on the economy in Chicago, marks of the CPAP device were seen on his face, according to the agency.

For someone who doesn't know those brands, it's not so easy to tell them apart, but similar marks could be seen on Biden's face Monday during a White House event detailing plans to dole out nearly $42.500 billion to build high-speed internet networks. It was the same appearance in which Biden first spoke out about the revolt of Wagner's mercenaries in Russia. No media then pointed out those marks, but when looking at the images of the close-ups, they are appreciated.

U.S. President Joe Biden arriving Wednesday at O'Hare International Airport in Chigago, IllinoisEvan Vucci (AP)

"Since 2008, the President has disclosed his history of sleep apnea in thorough medical reports. Last night he used a CPAP machine, which is common for people with that history," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement after Bloomberg reported the president's use of the device.

Sleep apnea affects more than 30 million Americans. Biden already revealed his problems with it for the first time in 2008, when he was designated by Barack Obama as a candidate for vice president in the presidential elections to which he contested.

CPAP treatment helps improve sleep quality and reduce snoring by keeping the airways open while users sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health. Sleep apnea is a common condition in which the airways become blocked at night, which can reduce airflow. Facial devices, which can have multiple straps, are often worn while users sleep.

Joe Biden, in an appearance on Monday in which the CPAP marks are seen on his face. KEN CEDENO / POOL (EFE)

Biden has chosen to joke over and over again about his age as a way to downplay it. At an event last April with the president of South Korea, he said that he does not even remember how old he is. Days later, with the children in the White House, he was asked why he wanted to be president: "Well, you know, when I was younger, 120 years ago...," he said, drawing laughter from attendees. My sister was three years younger than me. Now he's 20 years younger than me," he joked again, though at the same time he betrayed his memory and was unable to remember all his grandchildren. The next day, at an event with military personnel, he returned to the charge: "About 65 years ago, during the speech to the first class of the Air Force Academy, President Eisenhower — I was not there, no matter what the press says—...

And he continued along that line at the White House correspondents' dinner. "You might think I don't like Rupert Murdoch. That's not true. How can I not like a guy who makes me look like Harry Styles [the 29-year-old British singer]?" The media mogul turned 92 on March 11. "I believe in the First Amendment. Not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it," he also said, referring to the constitutional amendment enshrining freedom of speech, written in 1791 by James Madison, one of the founding fathers of the United States.

If anything, for 80, Biden is fit. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he exercises, and he obviously stays active at work. The last medical report, signed by Kevin O'Connor, the president's physician, after a routine examination he underwent in February at a military clinic in Maryland, said: "President Biden remains a healthy and vigorous 80-year-old man, fit to successfully perform the functions of the presidency, including those of chief executive, head of state and commander-in-chief."

In the report, the doctor also stressed that Biden spent a lot of time in the sun in his youth and that he is being checked for possible symptoms of skin cancer. The report noted that she had undergone a biopsy of a small lesion removed from her chest for analysis, which later came back positive.

Although Biden tries to downplay age, it is something that worries voters and that Trump, despite being 76 years old, insists again and again. The former president posts videos of Biden babbling or stumbling as part of the political spectacle with which he travels the country giving rallies and other talks.

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