Could Papaya be the source of the Pope´s recently improved health? |
Paris Luc Montagnier, head of the laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in Paris that
discovered the AIDS virus in 1983, has made an unconventional attempt to treat Pope
John Paul II, who is thought to be suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
Montagnier met the Pope in June to discuss the AIDS pandemic in Africa, and
to lobby for a shift in the Catholic church’s opposition to condom use. But he also
offered the Pope an experimental concoction of fermented Asian papayas, which he claims can stimulate the immune system and also mop up free radicals. Montagnier believes that free radicals play a role in many chronic diseases and could be used to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s. The benefits of papaya have not yet not been proven, however. Observers have remarked on a spectacular improvement in the Pope’s health, especially his speech, during his recent trips to Canada and Poland. But the Vatican has never confirmed that the Pope has Parkinson’s,nor that he took the papaya prescription.