German Chancellor Angela Merkel was filmed shaking repeatedly while listening to her country’s national anthem, prompting fears she was suffering from dehydration, stress, or even Parkinson’s disease.
Merkel was standing next to newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when the tremors began. She appeared to try to control herself, pursing her lips. Zelensky didn’t react as the anthem played.
Later that day Merkel, 64, blamed the incident on dehydration. She said that afterwards she drank water and was doing better. Germany is currently in the middle of a heat wave.
“I’ve drunk three glasses of water in the meantime, clearly that was what caused it. And in that respect I’m doing much better,” Merkel told reporters at a press conference with Zelensky.
Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick told Britain’s Daily Express that it was more likely that she suffered the tremors due to a fever. He also said less likely causes could be malaria or a panic attack.
“I read that there’d been some mention of dehydration, but I don’t think it looks like that to me,” he said. “You wouldn’t normally get shaking like that with dehydration. If you were starving, maybe, but thirst wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Rigors tend to last a few minutes and then once the heat is generated, you’d be right back to normal, which is what seems to be happening in this video of Merkel,” he added. “She’s fine when she walks away.”
Dr. Mark Porter of the Times of London said it was a case of “persistent tremor” or “the shakes,” something “that interferes with everyday tasks such as writing, applying make-up, eating and drinking, and even speaking.”
Such shaking was the “normal physiological consequence of triggers such as stress, excitement, fear, hunger (although not usually thirst), being hungover or even having overdone it at the gym.”
He added: “Most people immediately think of Parkinson’s disease, but essential tremor is much more common.”
Merkel has been leader of Germany since 2005 and has said she will not seek reelection when her term expires in 2021.
