In a country where the vitality of the president tends to serve as a proxy-in for credibility as a leader, President Donald J. Trump — now in his second term and the oldest president to hold office in U.S. history — is again making cognitive health the focal point of the nation's dialogue. Speaking on board Air Force One headed to West Palm Beach, the 78-year-old commander-in-chief made a public proclamation that he had "got every answer right" on a cognitive test administered during his annual check-up at Walter Reed Medical Center. "Good heart. Good soul. I felt I was in very good shape," said Trump, continuing that he went out of his way to take the test as a way of distinguishing himself from political rivals.

But what is this mental test actually — and what does it really tell us about a sitting president's mental acuity, particularly in the tough and high-wire job of Commander-in-Chief?

The president addressed openly to journalists on board during the trip to his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, assertively declaring, "I got every answer right." This comment has once again sparked public curiosity regarding the nature and importance of cognitive testing, particularly among aging political figures.

"I’m in very good shape — good heart, good soul, very good soul," President Trump told the White House press pool, emphasizing his physical and mental wellness. Not only did he point out the good results of his physical, but he also used the opportunity to differentiate himself from his political peers by mentioning that he took a cognitive test voluntarily — something he says his predecessors, former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, had declined to do.

This is not the first time President Trump has boasted about his cognitive abilities. In his last term, he made similar claims, even reciting memorable parts of the test like the now-famous phrase- "Man, Woman, Person, Camera, TV."

Former US President Donald Trump has been declared "fully fit" to serve as Commander-in-Chief, according to his latest physical examination report released by the White House on Sunday. The announcement comes at a time when the health of political leaders is under increased public scrutiny, especially in the United States.

The report holds particular significance as Trump remains the oldest individual ever elected to the presidency. One of the key highlights of the medical update is the noticeable reduction in his weight. Trump now weighs 224 pounds, down from 244 pounds during his previous physical in 2020. This 20-pound weight loss has also improved his Body Mass Index (BMI), lowering it from 30.5- which placed him in the "obese" category- to 28.0, categorizing him as "overweight."

According to his physician, this progress can be attributed to a more active and health-conscious lifestyle. The updated health report not only reflects improvements in Trump’s physical condition but also reinforces the broader national conversation around wellness and fitness in American political leadership.

What Is the Cognitive Test Trump Took?

The test in question is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a standardized screening tool developed in 1996 by neurologist Dr. Ziad Nasreddine. It’s widely used to detect mild cognitive impairment and early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Despite its simplicity for cognitively healthy individuals, the test is a powerful tool in neurological diagnostics.

MoCA tests several areas of brain function such as memory, attention, language, visuospatial abilities, and executive functions. It takes about 10 minutes and is commonly utilized by neurologists and primary care physicians to screen for cognitive impairments in persons aged 65 years and older.

President Trump claimed that he got every question correct — and for a cognitively healthy person, that is what is expected. But what is the MoCA, and are its last questions as hard as Trump claims?

1. Visuospatial and Executive Function Tasks

The test starts with a series of drawing exercises that involve:

• Drawing a clock indicating a particular time, e.g., 10 past 11.
• Copying a three-dimensional cube.

These exercises assess spatial knowledge, attention, and planning abilities — tasks that can decline with age or neurological deterioration.

2. Identification and Naming

These are illustrated animals — often a lion, camel, and rhinoceros — and participants are requested to identify them. This task appears straightforward but can be sensitive to problems with recall of language or semantic memory.

3. Delayed Recall and Memory

One of the more difficult sections of the test is when subjects are required to recall a series of five unrelated words. Later in the test, they are required to recall these same words without cues. This delayed recall section often uncovers early memory lapses.

4. Attention and Language Repetition

In the following section, items involve the repetition of strings of numbers forward and backward and simple subtraction items (e.g., subtract 7 from 100 consecutively). This assesses working memory and attention.

5. Verbal Fluency and Abstraction

Here, the subjects are required to say as many words as possible beginning with the letter "F" within 60 seconds. Subsequently, they have to describe similarities of two things — for example, how a train and a bicycle are similar (both are means of transport).

6. Orientation

The last section of the test tests an individual's sense of time and place — requesting that the subject give the present date, day of the week, month, year, and place.

How Difficult Is It, Really?

When asked about the difficulty of the test, Trump said, "I'll bet you couldn't even answer the last five questions. They get very hard." While certain sections, such as delayed recall and abstraction, may be challenging for people with early indicators of cognitive impairment, experts explain that the test is not intended to be excessively difficult for non-impaired individuals.

"The MoCA is not a test of intelligence," explains Dr. Sarah Williams, a Johns Hopkins Medicine neurologist. "It's intended to screen for very subtle indicators of cognitive decline. If you are cognitively normal, it will be very easy."

Cognitive Testing and Presidential Transparency

Trump's insistence on taking cognitive testing is less about boasting rights — it is also a sign of larger public anxieties surrounding aging leaders and their cognitive abilities. With both leading presidential candidates now over their late 70s and early 80s, mental sharpness issues have become an overarching theme in American politics.

Trump’s repeated willingness to undergo and publicize the results of cognitive testing could be interpreted as a strategic move to address those concerns head-on. “The American people want a mentally sharp president,” he said. “I think I’ve proven that.”

The uncertainty around the Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine has been exacerbated by the Trump administration. The new government has imposed new requirements on the nation's only traditional protein-based vaccine. These new requirements have led to many confusions about vaccine updates, including other vaccines too, which await approval.

The Wait For Full Approval Is Too Long

Novavax is the maker of the protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was on track to receive full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by April 1. However, the approval process was paused because of Dr Sara Brenner, the FDA's acting commissioner. The reason for delay has raised many questions about the interference, including political, especially after Dr Peter Marks, FDA's longtime vaccine chief had left following disagreements with Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. These events have further led to the apprehensions of uncertainty regarding the vaccine's future.

As of now, Novavax's vaccine is only authorized for emergency use. Unlike mRNA vaccines form Pfizer and Moderna, which have full approval, the Novavax vaccine holds the EUA or the Emergency Use Authorization, which allows it to be distributed during public health emergencies. However, once the emergency ends, the FDA can remove these vaccines from market unless full approval is granted.

What Caused The Delay?

The FDA had initially planned to approve Novavax's vaccine by its April 1 target date. However, sources familiar with the situation revealed that Trump appointees influenced the delay. Since then, Novavax has been in discussions with the FDA to determine additional requirements for approval. In the meantime, the FDA's recent comments have fueled concerns that Novavax’s vaccine may be treated as a “new product” due to its updates to match last year’s coronavirus strain. This would require new clinical trials, a process unlikely to be completed before the fall.

ALSO READ: Novavax Says FDA Approval Back on Track for Its COVID Vaccine

This approach to Novavax’s vaccine approval stands in stark contrast to the FDA’s treatment of the mRNA vaccines, where annual strain updates have been handled in a way similar to flu vaccines, requiring only small-scale tests to demonstrate the vaccine’s continued effectiveness against new strains. Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert, argued that it would be unnecessary to treat these annual updates as “new products” requiring full trials, as long as the updated vaccines show that they produce protective antibody levels.

Role Of HHS Secretary

Of course Robert F Kennedy Jr will have a role to play, being the Health Secretary, and a known vaccine skeptic. Despite claiming in recent speeches that he is not anti-vaccine, Kennedy’s past associations with anti-vaccine groups have raised alarms. His nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, has been involved in campaigns questioning vaccine safety, and Kennedy himself has made public statements suggesting that vaccines can cause autism—a long-debunked claim.

His actions have also contributed to the uncertainty that surrounds the Novavax's approval today and the overall direction of US vaccine policies.

Is Novavax Different From Other Vaccines?

What sets Novavax apart from other COVID-19 vaccines is its traditional approach. While Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines use genetic instructions to create a temporary version of the virus’ spike protein, Novavax’s vaccine contains lab-grown copies of the spike protein itself. This approach has been used for decades in vaccines for diseases like hepatitis B and shingles, making it a more familiar method for people who may be hesitant about mRNA vaccines.

Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has launched Wegovy in Thailand, marking the entry of its hugely popular weight loss drug in Southeast Asian market. First launched in 2021, Wegovy helped make Novo Nordisk Europe's most valuable listed company until recently, worth $615 billion at its peak. Wegovy is a semaglutide shot, which means that it is a GLP-1 receptor agonist.

"We actually received the Thai FDA approval already in 2023," said Enrico Canal Bruland, vice president and general manager of Novo's Thai subsidiary. He noted that Novo was making Wegovy available in Thailand ahead of rival Eli Lilly's Zepbound. Wegovy is currently available for prescription in private hospitals around the country and will be available soon in public hospitals. Notably, Bruland declined to provide details on Wegovy's pricing in Thailand, which has a population of around 66 million, or Novo Nordisk's plans for expansion into other Southeast Asian markets.

Notably, the most popular GLP-1 agonist Ozempic was also created by Novo Nordisk. Earlier this month, the pharma giant expanded its research in the field diabetes and weight loss drug and announced that its diabetes pill, Rybelsus, demonstrated cardiovascular benefits in a late-stage trial. The findings pave the way for the medication to become a new treatment option for people living with both diabetes and heart disease.

How Do Semaglutides Work?

Semglutide is the synthetic version of GLP-1—a natural hormone produced in the intestines that regulates blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. Now, every time you eat, your body produces various hormones, including GLP-1. These are called Post nutrition hormones, and help you absorb the energy you just consumed.

GLP-1 travels to your pancreas, prompting it to produce insulin. It also travels to the hypothalamus in your brain, which gives you the feeling of being full or satiated. Ozempic imitates this hormone, thereby, silencing the food chatter in the brain. Interestingly, for some people this food chatter is really quiet ( people with low appetite) and for others it is an outbrurst, (people who generally binge eat.) So with Ozempic, silencing this self-talk in the brain, people tend to lose their appetite and eventually weight.

However, it is important to note that losing weight includes not just fat but muscle as well. Losing too much muscle can lead to reduced strength and a shorter life span. Notably, records show that most people who start taking them stop it at 12 weeks; therefore, it is important for some but not for others.

Notably, last month, US pharma major Eli Lilly launched the obesity management drug Mounjaro in India at one-fifth of the US price. The company rolled out the drug in a single-dose vial following the marketing authorisation from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). It has been priced at Rs 3,500 for a 2.5 mg vial and Rs 4,375 for a 5 mg vial. "It is a first-of-its-kind treatment for obesity, overweight, and type 2 diabetes that activates both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) hormone receptors," the company said.

One moment, Dr Cornelius Sullivan was focused on a patient during surgery, and the next moment, he woke up in ambulance, headed to the emergency room.

According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), Dr Sullivan had struck his head on a monitor that had been moved behind him in a surgery center. This serious accident had resulted in a two-night hospital stay and kept him away from work for weeks. However, this is not the first time he had suffered a work-related injury. This is, in fact, the third time this has happened, noted ASA.

"Boom Strikes"

These injuries are often called "boom strikes". These occur when anesthesiologists accidentally bump into operating room (OR) equipment that is mounted on fixed or moveable arms. These could be monitors, lights, or screens.

While any OR staff member could be hurt this way, anesthesiologists are particularly more vulnerable to such injuries. Their work requires them to operate in tight, also, often crowded spaces. It also requires them to move quickly during emergencies, which further increases the risk of collision with equipment.

Why The Problem Is Growing?

As per ASA, the risk of boom strikes have been on the rise. This is also because of an increase in sophisticated equipment being added to operating rooms and surgeries are also now performed in much smaller spaces.

As per a survey conducted by the organization, it was found that more than half of anesthesiologists reported experiencing at least one work-related injury, including head injuries. These numbers have highlighted the growing concern over physical safety in an already demanding and high-pressure environment.

Can New Guidelines Improve Safety?

In response to these alarming findings, the ASA has issued a new Statement on Anesthesiologist Head Injuries in Anesthetizing Locations.

The statement formally recognizes boom strikes as a serious occupational hazard and even a potential medical emergency — especially dangerous during outpatient procedures or in cases where no backup anesthesiologist is immediately available to take over patient care.

Dr. Mary Ann Vann, chair of ASA's Ad Hoc Committee on the Physical Demands of Anesthesiologists, also experienced a work-related head injury. Drawing from personal experience, Dr. Vann helped develop the new safety recommendations, aimed at preventing such incidents.

What Have Been The Key Recommendations?

The ASA outlined several measures to reduce the risk of head injuries among anesthesiologists, including:

Holding Regular Safety Meetings: OR teams should meet frequently to discuss safety concerns and review past incidents.

Creating Safety Teams: Special teams should be tasked with reviewing and tracking reports of boom strikes to identify patterns and solutions.

Involving Anesthesia Staff in Room Planning: Clinical anesthesia personnel should have a voice when designing or rearranging procedure rooms to ensure equipment placement considers movement and space needs.

Tracking Head Injuries: Systematic documentation of head injuries can help health systems better understand causes and outcomes, leading to more informed prevention strategies.

The ASA emphasized that head injuries in the OR are not just minor accidents but events that can have serious consequences for patient safety and anesthesiologists’ health.

By implementing the new guidelines and raising awareness, the ASA hopes to make operating rooms safer environments for all medical professionals — and ensure that anesthesiologists can continue their vital work without unnecessary risk.