In recent months, stories about President Biden’s mental health have appeared with disconcerting regularity. Most recently our RedState colleague Bonchie chronicled the President’s deterioration during a meeting with Isreali President Isaac Herzog.

Now, a new study on certain implications of a person’s health may yield some insights into the President’s failing cognition.

Being chronically constipated, defined by the authors as having a bowel movement only every three or more days, has been linked with a 73% higher risk of subjective cognitive decline, according to research presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam.

“Our study provided first-of-its-kind evidence that examined a wide spectrum of bowel movement frequency,” said Dr. Chaoran Ma, the research’s first author and assistant professor in the department of nutrition at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, via email. “We were surprised at how strong the associations were, especially for those with very infrequent bowel movements.”

The results of the study proved revealing:

Compared with people who pooped once a day, constipated participants had significantly worse cognition equivalent to three years more of chronological cognitive aging, the authors found. Increased risk was also found among those who pooped more than twice daily, though these higher odds were small.

Of course, we have no way of knowing how regular President Biden is in this respect. That’s not something the White House generally discusses, nor can anyone reasonably ask, say, the No. 2 person in the Executive branch for her insight. There are a few indicators, however.

First, a rumored excretory event in the Vatican: while there is no confirmation from any quarter as to whether this actually happened, RedStater Nick Arama later noted that the President was disinvited from the funeral of the late Pope Benedict. While one can appreciate the Vatican’s not wanting to waste time on a supposedly Catholic President who defies some of the most essential teachings of the Church, one wonders if there is some other reason as well.

Second, after a certain 2021 event, none other than Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles seemingly couldn’t stop talking about the President’s gas problem.

So, while the President’s physicians aren’t discussing this particular health issue, there certainly are some interesting indicators dropping in the news. Of course, Mr. Biden is far from the only elected official to drop an air biscuit in public, but as he is the President, and as his mental decline is well documented, it’s a matter of concern.

It turns out there may be a bacteriological cause as well; some researchers have followed the spoor to another finding:

Other research presented at the same conference Wednesday had similar findings. In one abstract of 140 middle-aged adults, having lower levels of neuroprotective gut bacteria Butyricicoccus and Ruminococcus was associated with elevated levels of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.

In another, of more than 1,000 adults, those with poor cognition had abnormally high amounts of the bacteria Alistipes and Pseudobutyrivibrio compared with other participants. Alistipes bacteria have previously been linked with anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and hypertension.

One would hope, for the sake of the country, that President Biden’s physicians would waste no time, scat to the White House, and conduct whatever tests are necessary to determine if the President suffers from elevated levels of these bacteria. There should be other steps that may be taken; more fiber in his diet, perhaps. Or maybe some vigorous exercise to keep the bowels open.

Of course, “vigorous,” “exercise” and “President Biden” aren’t words one often sees in the same sentence. But certainly, the President’s health-care providers, not to mention his family, should be concerned. Public perception of the President, none too good in the first place, is still trending down. And the public has a right to know these things. Some intrepid reporter who occupies a stool in the White House press briefings should bring the question up.

My father used to sing a little ditty that somehow, this morning, seems relevant to the whole affair.