Bagpipers lung

[Jock Scot]

Well alright pipers make up a very small percentage of the world population and conclusive evidence is scant because of that, if you choose to read it that way. But if it were me, I would not ignore it.

I well remember when evidence of 'farmers lung"started hitting the headlines and the then scant evidence was not only scoffed at, it was ignored for far, far too long. Almost a sense of bravado prevailed and the excuses used to ignore the very real risks were exactly like the ones used here in this thread now. The end result was far too many good men and women died ------ and are still dying----- not a very nice death well before their time, leaving many a farming family in great distress. No one in farming today, if they have any sense, scoffs or ignores "farmers lung" now.

Just saying.

[jumary]

It seems that this is a very rare thing. I certainly have not heard that this is suddenly occurring throughout the piping community.
Like many pipers, and probably most people who are serious about it, I always take them apart, swab the drones, and let it all air out. I would imagine that leaving them moist and closed up would lead to things growing.

[tripleblessed]

Having grown up in a farm family in a farming town, I was aware more years ago than I care to point out that grain bins and silos were hazardous to breathing. Like black and white lung, farmer's lung was a known reality, but one which could be avoided with proper precautions. In point of fact, it has been known for three hundred years. Not widely known in drier climes, but in wet ones, more so. I don't think anyone is saying ignore this, just that proper maintenance removes the risk of the pipe as a source. A healthy skepticism is almost always a good thing and with health, especially. Now that we live in time of corporations inventing "diseases" to bolster the bottom line, much needs to be suspect; and the irony that in this country the health care industry is now the number one cause of death requires assiduous careful examination of all reports. My doctor I trust to be on my side; the teaching he received I've proved wrong way too many times to blindly accept.

[Celtadonian]

Their "damp-loving mould" couldn't exist in a bag seasoned with proper seasoning, nor in a Gore-Tex bag. There's no "damp" in any set of pipes I've ever played; everything is bone-dry, or covered in a layer of seasoning. Evidently non-pipers imagine pipes being different than they are.

I'd think so, doesn't getting damp actually get your pipes out of tune? (that's what I heard I'm in no means an expert)