As Donald Trump recently went for his second health checkup, the visit, announced earlier this week by the White House comes as he prepares to travel to the Middle East following a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it a “routine yearly checkup,” even though the president had already undergone his annual physical in April. According to a memo obtained by CBS News on Friday evening, written by Trump’s physician, Capt. Sean Barbabella, the president “successfully completed a scheduled follow-up evaluation.”The president also received his annual flu vaccination and an updated COVID-19 booster. Interestingly, his cardiac age, a validated measure of cardiovascular health via ECG was found to be roughly 14 years younger than his chronological age. However, health experts remain concerned, with many noting potential signs of dementia. Now, some specialists are also pointing to early indicators of phonemic paraphasia in his speech.What Is Phonemic Paraphasia That Health Experts Believe Donald Trump Has Signs Of?Phonemic paraphasia is a type of speech error where sounds within a word are substituted, added, or rearranged, creating a nonword that still sounds similar to the intended word (for example, “tephelone” instead of “telephone”). It is commonly seen in language disorders such as Wernicke’s aphasia and conduction aphasia, caused by difficulty selecting the correct phonemic segments. People with this condition usually understand what they want to say but struggle with producing the correct sounds.What Are Psychologists Saying About Donald Trump’s Health?Even during Trump’s first term, his cognitive and psychological traits attracted attention. Observers noted he struggled to focus on a single topic, and his public remarks raised concern among psychiatrists. In 2017, 27 mental health professionals collectively published The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, warning that his mental state, combined with presidential powers, could pose risks to global security.Dr. Bandy Lee, who taught for 17 years at Yale School of Medicine, first noticed potential neurocognitive issues in Trump in 2017 and says his condition has steadily declined since then. The manifesto, published on Nov. 3, 2024, titled Statement on Cognitive Decline in the Presidential Election, lists symptoms including simpler vocabulary, incomplete sentences, grammatical mistakes, paraphasias, vague or inappropriate statements, compulsive repetition of thoughts (“perseveration”), increased use of profanity, and pronounced narcissistic traits.Some of Trump’s invented words even went viral during his first term. The infamous “covfefe” tweet is one example, where he likely meant “coverage” but created a nonsensical word that became a meme and appeared on protest signs and in advertisements.Health Experts Believe Donald Trump Also Has DementiaHarry Segal, a senior psychology lecturer at Cornell University, has observed early signs of dementia in Trump. “What’s alarming is how the rate of Trump’s unusual speech and political decisions has been increasing. He once gave an incoherent answer about childcare to the Economic Club of New York… Trump has shown evidence of dementia over the past year, indicated by his strange gait, phonemic paraphasia, and a decline in word complexity,” Segal said. He believes these factors explain Trump’s refusal to debate Kamala Harris a second time and his increasingly impulsive speeches.What Are the Symptoms of Phonemic Paraphasia?The main symptom is substituting a word with a nonword that sounds similar, such as saying “wishdasher” instead of “dishwasher.” Other signs include:Errors where sounds in a word are replaced with different soundsProducing non-real words that resemble the intended wordDifficulty finding words and substituting unrelated terms (semantic paraphasia)Repeated attempts to correct themselves, sometimes abandoning the word entirelyLack of awareness of these mistakesWho Is Affected by Phonemic Paraphasia?Individuals with aphasia: Particularly Wernicke’s and conduction aphasiaPeople with brain lesions: Often in the posterior temporal lobe or internal/external capsules, areas involved in languageIndividuals with other neurological conditions: Early dementia is frequently associated with phonemic paraphasia
Email
Google
Facebook Email Google Facebook