Norway: Princess Mette-Marit has a lung disease

NOTorwegens Crown Princess Mette-Marit (45 years old) suffers from chronic lung disease. Pulmonary fibrosis will limit their work in the future, the Norwegian royal family announced Wednesday night. She has been complaining for several years, said Mette-Marit on the "Dagsrevyen" broadcast of NRK public television. Now she was relieved to know the cause. She and her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, had decided to inform the public because they sometimes made fewer official appointments because of illness.

The illness of the princess is slow, said her doctor Kristian Bjøro of Oslo Rikshospitalet. This is an unusual form of pulmonary fibrosis that can not be attributed to external influences. At present, there are many indications of an autoimmune disease. The treatment will be carried out in cooperation with foreign specialists in Norway.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs are attacked by chronic inflammation of the connective tissue. As a result, lung function decreases, oxygen can be reduced and patients suffer from shortness of breath, cough and respiratory distress. Pulmonary fibrosis is not curable, but the progression of the disease can be slowed down if it is detected in time.