New pope healthy despite having one lung

MANILA, Philippines - Having just one lung should not be an issue for the new pope, doctors say.

In a TIME Health and Family article, John Belperio, associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, explained possible causes that would have resulted in removal of Pope Francis’ lung.

Pneumonia, tuberculosis or even a birth defect that caused an abnormality in the lung tissue, or an unusual growth of blood vessels into the air sacs, which, if not treated immediately, would have resulted in removal of the lung.

“It was probably a pretty bad infection, and maybe even an abscess, that might have caused him to bleed a lot and the only thing to do is to resect the lung, take it out, to stop the bleeding,” Belperio says.

According to the Associated Press, the new pontiff suffered from a respiratory illness when he was a teenager and antibiotic treatments that are commonly used today were not available at that time.

Fortunately, the lungs are a redundant system, and losing one lung doesn’t seriously compromise health.

Belperio adds the fact that the 76-year-old pope has lived a relatively healthy life so far demonstrates that his surgery did little to hamper his ability to live a full and active life.

“The key thing is he had it as a child and has probably taken very good care of himself. My hunch is that he’s a lifelong nonsmoker,” said Joe Putnam, chairman of thoracic surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennesse.

Putnam added, “He looked great. I don’t think he’s going to slow down at all.”

However, aside from maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the pope is also advised to take extra precautions against infections by getting vaccinated against pneumonia and having a flu shot every year.