Hoots mon! The pipes can kill ye

24 August 2016 - 08:26 By ©The Daily Telegraph

Playing the bagpipes could prove fatal, scientists have warned, after a man died from continually breathing in mould and fungus trapped in his instrument. Doctors in Manchester in the UK have identified the condition "bagpipe lung" following the death of a 61-year-old man from chronic inflammatory lung condition hypersensitivity pneumonitis.The condition is triggered by the immune system's response to inhaling irritants. When the unnamed man was diagnosed in 2009 doctors were puzzled because his house contained no mould.However, he played the bagpipes daily, and samples taken from inside the bagpipes contained six types of mould and fungi. It is thought that moist conditions inside the bag allowed mould and fungi to grow."This is the first case report identifying fungal exposure, from a bagpipe player, as a potential trigger for the development of hypersensitivity pneumonitis," said Dr Jenny King of Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. ..

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