Tree in lung 'a hoax'

A Russian man made headlines after it was said that he has a small pine tree growing in his lung, apparently from inhaling a seed or bud that then germinated in his lung. But this story is absolute nonsense – plant material cannot grow in the human body, experts say.

Both Prof Tony Linegar, cardio-thorax surgeon at the University of the Free State, and Prof Gillian Ainslie, a pulmonologist at the University of Cape Town said that tumours that look like a ball of hair and teeth can grow in a human body, but no plants.

Prof Chris Bolliger, pulmonologist at the University of Stellenbosch, said the X-ray that was showed and the tissue sample with the "tree" in it do not concur. Bolliger and Linegar said that plants can not show more density than bone on the X-ray. And the "tree" could not have germinated in the lung. "Seeds and plants do not grow in humans, the medium is not right for it," said Bolliger.

Highly unlikely
It is possible that the man might have inhaled a branch cutting (which would have got stuck in his airway if he didn't cough it out), but according to the X-ray it is lodged too deep for that. "I'm very sceptical," said Bolliger.

It also looks like the cutting was folded in to the lung tissue. If it grew there, it would have been woven into the tissue.

Ainslie said: "Something like this would have been reported in the medical literature, but it's not there. The green pine needles on the photo bother me, because there is no sunlight in the lungs. I'm sceptical."

According to Linegar the human body would have formed a wall around the seed if it was inhaled, but even that is unlikely as the seed is too big to go from the airways to the lungs.

"The growth of plant material in humans has never been recorded in academic literature. Until someone comes with concrete evidence, I think it is nonsense," said Linegar. - (Elsabé Brits/Die Burger, April 2009)

Read more:
How to spot a health hoax