A lot of you may have seen it, but for those who have not, 81-year-old Senator Mitch McConnell suddenly froze mid-sentence at a podium during a press conference last Wednesday. This caused concerns from the public, for he appeared to be staring at blank space for 19 complete seconds. From questions about seizures to ones asking whether or not the Senator is a robot—all these conspiracy theories circulated since then.
But is he really a robot? Did he really have a seizure? Is he really fine, just as he told the press seconds after coming back to the podium?
What do you think happened with Senator McConnell?
Join me as I talk about this incident and highlight the importance of recognizing symptoms in others, as such could indicate serious health concerns.
Why you need to check out this episode:
- Learn about what happened to Senator Mitch McConnell during a speech last Wednesday;
- Be educated about the signs and symptoms of mini-strokes, seizures, and dementia; and
- Understand how by knowing, you can hopefully save someone from the worst
“Obviously, we don’t want to learn by example, but it’s much easier to see something happen especially on the national stage, and be like, ‘Oh, that’s what that is.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
Topics Covered:
00:00 – Today’s focus: Things to take note of in relation to Senator Mitch McConnell’s freeze during a press con
00:43 – Quick backgrounder: Who is Senator Mitch McConnell?
01:21 – What Dr. Berry thinks: “I think it was a TIA, which is a mini-stroke…”
01:58 – Q&A: What is a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) / mini-stroke?
02:57 – What other people think: “He might have had a seizure…or dementia…or he’s some kind of a robot…”
03:31 – Let’s watch the video and tell me what you think!
04:20 – Reasons why I’m extremely concerned, as a medical professional
06:14 – The age factor: Not giving Senator McConnell a diagnosis, but looking at the possibility of dementia
07:50 – Disclaimer: We’re not going down the path of conspiracy theories
08:32 – Here’s why it’s important to learn something from this
09:34 – As a physician, that’s what I’m here for!
Notable Quotes:
“I think it was a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack), which is a mini-stroke, and the reason why I think it’s a mini-stroke is (1) because he was able to eventually snap out of it, which we’ll see in the video, but (2) the fact that it looked like all of the symptoms of a person who’ve had a stroke.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
“When we’re trying to separate the two—TIA vs. an actual stroke—it’s when you have tissue death that occurs.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
“A lot of people don’t realize that patients with advanced dementia, a lot of them don’t speak. And you may be wondering what in the disease process causes patients with dementia not to speak; it’s literally because they forget how to.” – Dr. Berry Pierre
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