Farmer’s Lungs, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

This book describes Farmer’s Lungs, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Farmer's Lung is a disease produced by an allergy to the mold in certain farm crops.

Farmers tend most prone to get it since it is normally produced by inhaling dust from hay, grass, and corn used for animal feed, grain, tobacco or some pesticides.

Not everyone obtains farmer's lung after breathing in these substances.

It only happens if the patient has an allergic response.

Farmer's lung is an allergy produced by the dust from moldy hay, straw and grain.

In early stages of the disease, it can appear like nothing more serious than a nagging winter cold.

If overlooked, the allergic reaction can produce permanent lung damage.

The patient may be forced to renounce farming and in some cases may experience permanent disability or even death.

Early diagnosis is important if lasting injury is to be avoided.

Since farmer's lung is featured by cold or flu-like symptoms, the early detection is difficult.

Many patients will not have any difficulty to consult a doctor due to continuous symptoms.

When they do, the exposure to moldy crop material is seldom reported to the doctor.

This can be catastrophic since each exposure raises the injury.

Farmers who do not consult doctors could burden their families with their illnesses.

It is also termed extrinsic allergic alveolitis, hypersensitivity alveolitis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

With farmer's lung disease, the inflammation happens in the lungs.

Molds are the main cause of Farmer’s Lungs.

When farm crops are kept without adequate drying, they start to heat up.

Many kinds of mold develop in such environments.

When a farmer comes in contact with such material (when a large bundle of hay is taken apart) the mold is discharged as part of a very fine dust.

A farmer who is working indoors may breathe in a large quantity of this dust in a very short time.

Since the dust is so fine, it goes past defense systems in the nose and throat.

When the dust arrives at the inner parts of the lungs (termed the alveoli), the lungs' internal defense system gets control.

In most patients, the dust is eliminated without injury to the lungs.

An allergic reaction to the dust develops in a few patients.

The patient’s body believes that the mold is more serious than is actually the case, and starts to attack the dust materials.

The first exposure in sensitive patients only produces the allergy.

Every subsequent exposure to the dust activates an allergic response.

The body's immune system starts to attack the mold, causing symptoms which may be similar to anything from a cold to pneumonia.

Scar tissue (fibrosis) develops inside the lungs.

While cold-like symptoms may resolve, the fibrosis can be permanent.

Lung injury may be too insignificant to observe in the early stages of farmer's lung.

Each subsequent exposure will raise the amount of lung tissue damage.

A patient will soon start to observe that they are short of breath.

At first, this lung injury causes laborious work to be more difficult.

Even routine works become too difficult after the frequent and repeated exposure.

Ultimately, the patient may find it an effort to even stand up from a chair.

It is frequent for farmers to get this disorder from moldy hay and other crops.

The patient also can get it from dust in substances like:
1. Animal dander
2. Bacteria
3. Bark
4. Bird droppings
5. Dried rat urine
6. Feathers
7. Fungi
8. Husks
9. Insects
10. Wood

These allergens have to be very tiny around 5 millionths meter (5 microns) to involve the patient.

Dairy farmers are the most frequent patients.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Farmer’s Lungs
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Fungal Pneumonia
Chapter 8 Legionellosis
Epilogue