Pope Francis has long history of health problems

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis cancelled his appointments on Monday because of what the Vatican described as light flu symptoms. 

Below are details of some of the health problems the 87-year-old pontiff has faced.

LUNG AND RESPIRATORY TRACT

When he was 21, the then Jorge Bergoglio developed pleurisy and had part of one of his lungs removed in Argentina.

He has suffered from influenza and related problems a number of times since the start of 2023. But he was able to undertake a demanding, 12-day, four-country journey across Southeast Asia and Oceania earlier in September.

On Feb 28 this year, he had a check-up in hospital after suffering from a bout of flu and returned to the Vatican promptly the same day. 

In March 2023, the pope was taken to hospital after complaining that he had difficulty breathing. He recovered swiftly after receiving antibiotics for bronchitis. 

In late November 2023, he was forced to cancel a planned trip to the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai because of the effects of influenza and lung inflammation.    

COLON AND ABDOMEN

The pope spent nine days in hospital in June, 2023 when he had surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.

His medical team had decided that surgery was required because the condition was causing painful intestinal occlusions.

In July 2021, the pope had 33 cm (13 inches) of his colon removed in a six-hour operation that was aimed at addressing a painful bowel condition called diverticulitis. He said in 2023 that the condition had returned.

In an interview with Reuters in 2022, he dismissed as "court gossip" rumours that cancer had been found during the 2021 surgery. The surgeon who had operated on him in 2021 confirmed last year that there was no cancer.

BACK AND KNEE

The pope has long suffered from sciatica, a chronic nerve condition that causes back, hip and leg pain. A flare-up of the ailment caused the pope to miss New Year's Eve and New Year's Day services in December 2020, the first time health problems had caused him to miss major religious events.

He also developed a separate, painful knee problem, but told Reuters in July 2022 he opted against surgery because he did not want a repeat of long-term negative side effects from anaesthesia that he suffered from the 2021 colon operation. Instead, he has looked to overcome the problem with laser and magnet therapy.

In 2022, he was forced to cancel trips to Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan because of his walking problems. He rescheduled the Africa trip and went to both countries in 2023.

The pope now uses a wheelchair or a cane and his waistline has noticeably increased due to a more sedentary lifestyle in the Vatican.

MENTAL HEALTH

Pope Francis said in 2021 he saw a psychiatrist in his native Argentina when he was a young priest who helped him deal with anxiety during the time of the military dictatorship. He said he had learnt to deal with the problem through various mechanisms, including listening to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.   

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee and Crispian Balmer and Keith Weir; editing by Philip Pullella, Janet Lawrence and Andrew Heavens)