Is Nordic comforters really dangerous for your health?

A few weeks ago the networks turned to news: a study warns of the danger of Nordic feather comforter, according to research a man developed a lung condition for inhaling the feather dust.

But is it dangerous to use down comforters? for the vast majority of people no. It is important to clarify that the study only presented one case.

As Francisca Lourdes Márquez, head of the Pulmonology Department of the Badajoz University Hospital and professor of Pneumology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Extremadura, explains, a Damn Science (the web portal dedicated to denying bulos) "the feather quilt lung disease is rare. It belongs to the group of extrinsic allergic alveolitis, an immune-based inflammatory disease, not very frequent. "

According to the doctor "the organism of a person sensitized to microorganisms present in the bird feathers behaves as if he were allergic to that matter".

The study, published in BMJ Case Reports, explains the specific case of this condition, called "feather comforter lung", a lung inflammation caused by the inhalation of dust that accumulates in the feathers found in comforters and pillows.

As the authors of the text warn, doctors from Kirkcaldy Victoria Hospital and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, this disease is due to an immune response. Among the symptoms that can be suffered are sweats nocturnal, dry cough and shortness of breath, and may appear over a very long period of time, from 3 weeks to 5 years. Prolonged exposure may cause irreversible lung scars.

One of the authors of the publication, Dr. Owen Dempsey, emphasizes that it is very likely that other similar cases are not being diagnosed. In any case, it also states that there are no data available on how frequent this disease may be.

As Dr. Márquez explains, "this particular disease, today is rare and social alarm should not be created".

The authors of this study highlight the importance of asking patients with respiratory symptoms not only if they have pets at home, but also if they have comforters or pillows of feathers "It is an important omission, since the use of feather bedding instead of synthetic is quite common," they say.