Editor’s Note: This is the first report which, while trying to be moderate and objective, paints a clearer picture of the Pope’s other possible health problem, other than his “bronchitis” or “pneumonia”: his heart. It emphasizes that his medical team — still unnamed — is concerned about how the treatment he is receiving may affect his heart. Yet it states that he is only being given antibiotics and cortisone for his poly-microbial lung infection.
According to the Mayo Clinic, cortisone is used to reduce swelling, and is mostly used for joint issues. Yet, it is known to reduce immune response to infection. So it seems contra-indicatory to use on a patient with a claimed “polymicrobial” infection of the lungs with slight “pneumonia” in the lower lobes of each, unless of course Pope Francis is suffering some sort of major inflammation which is risking his infection spreading to the blood or other organs by reason of the internal tissue pressures. But nothing has been said about that.
Also, antibiotics, according to one study (see here), can affect the heart, since it “… may induce prolongation of the QT interval and the Torsades de Pointes, and sudden cardiac death”.
I am not a doctor, so my opinion and reaction to these facts has no medical value. But it certainly seems that the reported treatment for Pope Francis is not only wrong but dangerous.
The constant monitoring of the heart means that his medical team also knows this. And that means that his heart is at risk, when for a normal person, it would not be. In fact, in recent days we have been told repeatedly that Pope Francis’s medical team — the members of which are still unidentified despite thousands of journalists attempts — has emphasized that he not experience the least bit of stress. This implies serious cardiac problems.
On the other hand, if Pope Francis’ medical condition is not what has been claimed, or if his claimed problems of infection and pneumonia are only exaggerations to serve as a cover story for his real issues, then this treatment, if he is truly receiving it, might not be dangerous at all.
Hi Brother Bugnolo,
I thought I read somewhere that Pope Francis was doing better? He looked very swollen to me in the picture from the Vatican News source. Prednisone will do that. I know, bc my Dad was on it for his Emphysema & COPD. I hope he gets well soon.
There are a lot of 2nd hand reports of reports, which are saying he is getting better, but the doctors have only said that there is an improvement in the inflammatory markers in his blood.