The health and well-being of the U.S. president are of vital concern to all Americans, and any issues in that regard should be proactively and transparently disclosed in an exceedingly timely manner -- which is not exactly the case in terms of President Joe Biden's White House.
The White House revealed on Wednesday that President Biden for the past few weeks has been using a CPAP machine to help him breathe while sleeping, according to the Western Journal.
That rather pertinent information was not voluntarily shared with the American public but rather appears to have only been reluctantly divulged in response to a flurry of media questions after Biden was observed with deep indention marks on his face that are caused by the CPAP machine's facemask straps.
Bloomberg News senior White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs was among the first to reveal the belated disclosure from the White House that President Biden required assistance in breathing while sleeping at night.
"Scoop: Biden has begun using a CPAP machine, per sources. The device is to treat longstanding sleep apnea, one of the people said. As Biden departed the White House this morning for Chicago, indentations from the CPAP straps could be seen on his face," Jacobs tweeted.
Scoop: Biden has begun using a CPAP machine, per sources. The device is to treat longstanding sleep apnea, one of the people said. As Biden departed the White House this morning for Chicago, indentations from the CPAP straps could be seen on his face. Story by @jendeben and me. pic.twitter.com/U4Chkp16Pq
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 28, 2023
Other outlets, such as CNN, swiftly confirmed that "scoop" from Bloomberg and reported that the White House had revealed that President Biden had "recently" begun to use a CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates was quoted as saying, "Since 2008, the president has disclosed his history with sleep apnea in thorough medical reports. He used a CPAP machine last night, which is common for people with that history."
It wasn't just "last night" that he began using the machine, however, as an unnamed official described as being "familiar with the matter" told CNN that Biden had been consistently using the machine in "recent weeks," and the outlet noted that similar, albeit less noticeable, indention marks had been observed on the president's face during a White House event on Monday.
CNN further reported that, as mentioned by spokesman Bates, President Biden's issue with sleep apnea had been previously disclosed as far back as 2008 and was again noted in 2019, in both instances as part of his presidential campaigns. However, it was not mentioned at all in the annual physical health reports that have been released by White House Physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor since Biden took office.
According to Scientific American, sleep apnea is a condition in which, for a variety of reasons, a person's airways can collapse or become obstructed while sleeping, a condition that afflicts at least 30 million Americans -- likely many more who are undiagnosed -- and typically results in snoring, restless sleep, abrupt awakenings, and reduced oxygen levels, which in serious cases can prove fatal.
The most common treatment is a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine, which utilizes a strapped-on facemask while a person sleeps to incessantly force air back down the airways in order to keep them from collapsing or becoming obstructed.
In apparently related news, NBC News reported this week that its most recent poll showed that 68 percent of voters have concerns about President Biden's physical and mental health, including 55 percent with "major" concerns, and that overall number also includes 43 percent of Democrats.
To be sure, it is the non-transparent actions of the current White House in failing to previously and proactively disclose this new revelation about Biden's use of a CPAP machine to assist him in breathing while sleeping that plays a not-insignificant role in the increasing distrust and concern about the elderly president's health.
