Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson might be fighting for his life.

A Michael Jackson biographer, Ian Halpernin, is claiming that Jackson suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, which has caused emphysema and gastrointestinal bleeding. TMZ reports that the author claims that Jackson can barely speak and is nearly blind in his left eye. Jackson’s reps had no comment.

“He’s had it for years, but it’s gotten worse,” Halperin told In Touch. “He needs a lung transplant but may be too weak to go through with it. He also has emphysema and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding, which his doctors have had a lot of trouble stopping. It’s the bleeding that is the most problematic part. It could kill him,” according to the Chronicle.

Jackson “can barely speak” and “the vision in his left eye is 95 percent gone,” Halperin said.

Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, treated Jackson at Lenox Hill in 1999.

“Alpha-1-anti-trypsin deficiency is a relatively rare genetic disorder that becomes apparent in young adulthood and early middle age, especially if smoking is added to the equation,” Horovitz said in a hospital news release. “The liver can also be affected, causing cirrhosis. The disease produces an early-onset emphysema, just as one might see in an older smoker. Treatment for mild or moderate cases involves infusions of a specific medication. In advanced stages, a lung transplant may be necessary.

“Since this is a genetic disorder, other members of the Jackson family must be tested for this genetic variant,” Horovitz added.