There is a HUGE difference in my mind on what is being debated here, and what the Far Right are alleging. The Far Right is saying that Biden has dementia like symptoms 90% of the time, and then for big things like the State of the Union and now this debate, someone gives him a bunch of drugs and all of a sudden his dementia is 100% gone and he is sharp and full of energy. All the stimulants in the world aren’t going to reverse the stage of dementia they allege that Biden has (or that Trump has - and may well be self treating that way).
I did a little research of my own to see if any actual studies existed about the effect of stimulants on people with dementia and found, this one and this one.
The first had the following quote:
Although patients showed improvements in apathy scores, the authors cautioned that benefits were modest (that could be due to the modest study size). In addition, patients did not show improvements in tests that measure how successfully they complete activities of daily living, like getting dressed and preparing meals. Nor did the drug lead to improvements in tests of memory and thinking skills. It might take longer than six months to observe significant differences on those parameters, or it might also be function of the age of the patients.
This was also after 6 months, not a pill before “show time”. Also remember that Biden is 81, to much up could turn his lights off.
The second study found this:
There were no significant treatment effects on cognition and clinical outcomes, as expected given the short trial duration.
This study was over 12 months, so double the other and nothing.
There is a HUGE difference in my mind on what is being debated here, and what the Far Right are alleging. The Far Right is saying that Biden has dementia like symptoms 90% of the time, and then for big things like the State of the Union and now this debate, someone gives him a bunch of drugs and all of a sudden his dementia is 100% gone and he is sharp and full of energy. All the stimulants in the world aren’t going to reverse the stage of dementia they allege that Biden has (or that Trump has - and may well be self treating that way).
I did a little research of my own to see if any actual studies existed about the effect of stimulants on people with dementia and found, this one and this one.
The first had the following quote:
This was also after 6 months, not a pill before “show time”. Also remember that Biden is 81, to much up could turn his lights off.
The second study found this:
This study was over 12 months, so double the other and nothing.
Edit - ugh … spelling.