Are Donald Trump And Joe Biden getting Enough Sleep At Night
We all think that we are competent enough to stand in the line of bureaucracy or make our names into the list of world leaders with our secretive flaws, medical conditions, drawbacks, and personal inhibitions. Well, this is as good as striking it rich in a lottery that suddenly manifests and makes you king-of-kings in today’s world. Yet, no one understands that each one of us are but human, and all the money and power in this world cannot buy a way out of the natural process of life and death. Being a world leader certainly brings along many things; power, and elevated attitude, a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of overcoming the fact that many said you were good-for-nothing, self-esteem grows, respect is earned, attention is given in overdue volumes, and it all seems good and welcome to a point. However, after basking in all the glory of overcoming these issues and considerations, and realizing ‘where do you go from here’ is somewhat of a dilemma to be visited many a night. If thoughts about ‘what all would I do if I was president’ can plague the ordinary person, then these thoughts must be certainly having an over-bearing on the minds of those who chose to be representatives of the people, and for a fact, themselves. Being a leader may only be known after losing the crown and becoming a common man again.
Several questions come to mind as Donald Trump (age 74) and Joe Biden (age 78) take the battle for president closer to the finale, from which, only one will emerge victorious. Among other major questions is, ‘Do Donald Trump and Joe Biden get enough sleep at night, and will this impede their ability to lead going ahead?’
President Trump Sleeps Less to Get More Done
President Trump is a frequent Twitter user, and most timestamps of his posts, likes, and retweets are late at night. A study titled, “Later bedtimes predict President Trump’s performance”, published in Economic Letters quite recently suggests that Donald Trump’s sleeping habits have become worse over time since he took office. Results of the study indicate that President Trump progressively stayed up late as his first term progressed. The frequency of his Twitter activity between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am increased by 317% — from under one day per week in 2017 to three days a week in 2020.
The researchers concluded that President Trump may be sleeping for fewer than six hours on average per 24-hour period. This differed from what President Trump said earlier in 2020 about working until midnight or past 1 am to get everything done and waking up again at 5 am.
Sleep Deprivation Driving Trump’s Angry Emotion Posts
The study also found that Trump’s performance has declined as a result of sleep deprivation in the recent past. Sleep deficit may also have something to do with President Trump posting an increased proportion of angry emoticons in public comments more recently, compared to proportion of happy ones posted earlier in his term.
Donald Trump’s physician, who is also a Navy doctor, announced to the media earlier in the year that the President sleeps four to five hours a night, and that this has been the trend all along. He also conveyed that Trump is among those people who does not require a lot of sleep.
What Lies Ahead
President Trump’s Body Mass Index (BMI) is over 30, which is the clinical definition of obesity. In addition, President Trump, who doctors say ‘is reporting no symptoms’ after he tested COVID-19 positive in early October this year, is yet to be declared free of the risk of transmitting the virus, but more serious concerns may lie ahead for him. Experts have stated that there is risk for a cardiac event (heart attack) within the next 3–5 years if Trump does not make some very necessary lifestyle changes sometime soon.
Former Vice President Joe Biden Sure Has Many Reasons Not To Sleep
According to the director of executive medicine at the GW Medical Faculty Associates and the presidential candidate’s physician when he (Biden) was vice president, Joe Biden is being treated for several conditions, including an irregular heartbeat, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hyperlipidemia, and seasonal allergies. The presidential candidate’s health records since the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008 indicate that Biden, who was then 65, had suffered no permanent damage from two brain aneurysms in the late 1980s.
In addition, Biden has undergone removal of his gallbladder, and is receiving preemptive treatment for non-cancerous polyps and skin abrasions in recent years. Biden will be 78 years old on 28 November 2020, and this raises some concerns as the average life expectancy for Americans is 78.7 years. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been considered in Biden, but the symptoms improved significantly after sinus and nasal-passage surgeries.
The Good, The Bad, And Possibly Ugly Truths
Biden has never used any tobacco products, does not drink any alcohol, and remarkably, works out at least five days a week. Not much has been revealed in the public domain about presidential candidate Joe Biden’s sleep habits, sleep hygiene, or sleep routine. However, going by results of numerous independent as well as government-funded studies on various diseases, conditions, and age-related factors, sleep could certainly be a major issue that Biden may be facing. In addition, stress and fatigue before and during the presidential campaign could be adding to his already existing challenges, and in turn impacting sleep quality and sleep duration.
Medication and Medical Conditions, and Aging Make a Risky Mix
Three sleep disorders that can commonly affect the elderly include sleep disordered breathing (SDB), restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movements in sleep (RLS/PLMS), and REM sleep-behavior disorder (RBD). In addition, medications such as anti-arrhythmics (for heart rhythm problems) and Beta blockers (for high blood pressure) are known to affect sleep and sleep quality. Anti-arrhythmics are known to cause nighttime sleep difficulties and daytime fatigue. GERD is known to have significant impact on sleep, and can lead to risks of aspirating (breathing in) stomach acid while asleep, aggravating or contributing to OSA, and causing sleep fragmentation due to discomfort of heartburn symptoms.
Apart from coronary artery disease, analysis of various studies have shown that disrupted sleep, including insomnia, may be independently associated with atrial fibrillation. Individuals experiencing frequent night-time awakening are around 26 percent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation compared to individuals who don’t wake quite as frequently.
Know More About Other Well-known Persons And Their Sleep Facts
Sleeping Habits of Entrepreneurs and Business Persons, is the title of an article published on InsideBedroom, which covers the sleep habits of business greats such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Marissa Mayer, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and scientists, inventors, and artists such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla, Leonardo Da Vinci, and numerous other greats, present and past, as well as many who have left a grand mark in history.
