Joe Biden health timeline: brain bleeds, bone cancer and a near-fatal aneurysm

During his presidency, Joe Biden faced health-related scrutiny, particularly concerning his cognitive abilities.  

But the former president has suffered everything from brain bleeds to bone cancer in what has been a decades-long health saga. 

Biden’s physical health and mental acuity drew intense media scrutiny even before the presidential debate which ultimately saw him forced to pull out.

At the time of his election in 2020, Biden was the oldest person to win the presidency.

And the former president had a significant health history that dates back to the 1980s.  

It all started with a diagnosis that nearly ended his career.

1988 – The aneurysm that nearly killed him

It was the health crisis that first shook the career of then-Senator Joe Biden – and nearly ended his life. 

In February 1988, Biden was rushed to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with agonizing head pain and neck stiffness. 

The diagnosis was harrowing: a brain aneurysm – a potentially fatal bulge in a blood vessel had ruptured.

Emergency surgery was performed to clip the aneurysm, but if that wasn’t enough, doctors discovered a second, un-ruptured aneurysm on the other side of his brain.

That one was surgically repaired later that year.

Biden was out of the Senate for months with a slow and long recovery from brain surgery, narrowly avoiding what could have been permanent brain damage. 

The health crisis ended his presidential ambitions at the time.

1989 Pulmonary Embolisms 

During the same period, Biden also developed pulmonary embolisms, blood clots that travel to the lungs and block the arteries. 

The serious and potentially fatal condition that can occur after major surgery, especially when a patient is immobilized or under general anesthesia.

According to Biden’s own autobiography, during recovery from one of his aneurysm surgeries, he developed a blood clot that broke loose and lodged in his lung – a pulmonary embolism.

It required emergency treatment and added a frightening complication to an already precarious situation. It extended his stay in hospital and put his life in even more danger.

Biden later said he was given less than a 50 percent chance of survival during this ordeal – and the pulmonary embolism was part of that dire prognosis.

2003 – Gallbladder surgery and atrial fibrillation

As Biden eyed a return to presidential politics in the early 2000s, health questions once again resurfaced. 

In 2003, he underwent gallbladder removal surgery – a routine procedure, but one that again raised questions about his age, stamina, and medical history. 

At the time, Biden was also diagnosed with atrial fibrillation – a condition that causes an irregular or fast heart beat. 

Medics have warned the condition can cause tiny blood clots that slowly injure parts of the brain over time, which can cause thinking and memory problems. 

Although he recovered quickly, the health scare only served to remind skeptics of his mounting list of ailments.

2015 – Personal tragedy and cancer moonshot 

It was not Joe Biden who was diagnosed in 2015 – but his eldest son, Beau. 

The former Delaware attorney general died of glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain cancer, at just 46. Biden was devastated.

But his grief became a goal and Biden launched the ‘Cancer Moonshot,’ a federal effort to accelerate cancer research, harnessing his political weight and his heartbreak into action. 

‘This is the time to be bold,’ he said. But even as he launched the campaign, his own aging body continued to battle new threats.

2019 – Coughing fits and campaign concerns 

As Biden campaigned for the presidency in 2019, his public appearances drew scrutiny not just for his gaffes, but for his health. 

Reporters noted frequent coughing spells and hoarse speech. The campaign insisted he was fine, blaming seasonal allergies. 

The concerns were only amplified as Biden, then 76, stumbled through debates and faced increasing speculation about his mental sharpness and endurance. 

November 2021 – Colon polyp removal 

The White House revealed in November 2021 that Biden had a ‘benign but potentially pre-cancerous’ polyp removed from his colon during a routine colonoscopy. 

While doctors insisted it was nothing serious, the fact that it had been allowed to grow over time triggered concern.

The polyp was an adenoma, which has the potential to turn into colon cancer if left unchecked. 

Though Biden was given a clean bill of health, the incident was a reminder that even ‘routine’ issues could become serious at his age.

July 2022 – COVID-19  

Biden experienced ‘very mild symptoms,’ including a runny nose, fatigue, and a dry cough during the pandemic. 

He continued working in isolation from the White House residence, and doctors began administering Paxlovid, the antiviral treatment authorized for high-risk patients.

But while Biden’s public appearances via Zoom were meant to project confidence, Americans were on edge. 

Within a few days Biden tested negative and was declared recovered.

But just three days later came a twist with Biden testing positive once again in what doctors referred to as a ‘Paxlovid rebound’ – a documented phenomenon in which symptoms and the virus return after initially subsiding.

February 2023 – Skin cancer 

Just months into the second year of his presidency, Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was later identified as basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. 

It was treated successfully, but it marked the first time Biden was publicly diagnosed with any form of cancer while in office.

The White House attempted to downplay the development, noting how the type of cancer rarely spreads, but it was yet another sign of Biden’s body under strain.

Biden had ‘several localized non-melanoma skin cancers’ removed from his body before he started his presidency, White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said in his summary of the president’s physical. 

He also acknowledged that Biden spent a lot of time in the sun in his youth. 

June 2024 – Cognitive decline 

The moment Biden’s health concerns could no longer be dismissed came in June 2024 during a catastrophic debate performance that stunned even his staunchest supporters. 

Biden appeared confused, paused for extended moments, and frequently lost his train of thought.

His team chalked it up to a cold, but inside the West Wing, alarm bells were blaring. 

According to Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s bombshell book ‘Original Sin’, aides had been shielding the extent of Biden’s mental decline from the public for months – if not years.

The episode led to an irreversible turning point with Biden dropping out of the 2024 race, clearing the way for Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee. 

But the damage was done. His health had finally cost him the presidency.

May 2025 – Stage 4 prostate cancer 

The most devastating blow came on Sunday as Biden’s office announced that the former president has been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and has already spread to his bones.

The diagnosis followed tests prompted by urinary symptoms and the discovery of a prostate nodule. 

The Gleason score – a scale used to measure how aggressive prostate cancer is – came back as a 9. 

That places Biden’s cancer at the extreme end of the scale. By comparison, anything above 7 is considered high risk.

‘This represents a more aggressive form of the disease,’ his office admitted in a stark statement. ‘But the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management.’

That means the cancer needs testosterone to grow  and can potentially be controlled by therapies that starve it of hormones. 

Still, experts warn that once prostate cancer metastasizes to the bone, it becomes vastly harder to treat and nearly impossible to cure.

The former president does have longevity in his family. His father lived to be 86 while  his mother lived to age 92.