Informative post, thanks from all of us. I know about it from nursing end-stage Parkinson's patients; a lot of times pneumonia results from difficulties in swallowing (aspiration pneumonia) and the coughing causes laryngeal edema and sometimes spasm...I have a very sad feeling about this illness of the Holy Father, and I wonder if it is his time...
Of course, he is a strong man, even in his frailty, and he may surprise us all--that is my earnest prayer, and my fondest wish...
A dear friend, an internal med doctor, saw the Pope in October. He said his breathing was already labored like end stage Parkinson's, and given his extensive experience with Parkinsons, he felt the Pope would succomb to respiratory failure or secondary infection within 6 to 12 months. I fear he was right.