What Is Farmer's Lung?

What Is Farmer’s Lung?

Farmer’s Lung is a type of Extrinsic Allergic Alveolitis; a range of lung diseases that can develop as a result of exposure to certain substances. It is sometimes called Hypersensitivity Alveolitis or Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis. To get an idea of what any of this means we can break these terms down into their constituent parts:

Extrinsic – meaning it is caused by something from outside of the body.

Allergic – meaning an abnormally increased reaction from the body to a common substance.

Alveolitis – referring to the alveoli; the tiny air sacs within the lungs. The -itis suffix generally refers to inflammation.

Essentially this means that someone suffering from the condition becomes allergic to particular microbes which can commonly grow on crops such as hay, straw, grain, compost and other vegetable matter. These microbes thrive in situations where crops have not dried properly or have been stored in areas without suitable ventilation, and when they are disturbed – such as during transportation – the microbes disperse within the air and are so small that they can easily be taken into the lungs.

Our bodies are designed to filter the air we breathe through a series of tiny hairs within our noses, but the fungal spores given off by these microbes are so small that they can easily pass directly into the lungs, where in many cases they can remain.

It is not the spores themselves that cause the issues, it is the body’s reaction to them. Many people can work in and around these spores for many years without any detrimental effect, however some people become sensitised to them – creating an allergic reaction that can include symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing, fever, chills, a tight feeling in the chest and tiredness.

For those who become sensitised, repeated exposure to the microbes can lead to more severe symptoms including a chronic cough and in extreme cases scarring of the lungs (referred to as fibrosis). In most cases the symptoms can be reduced or eliminated entirely if exposure to the allergen is avoided, but sadly in some cases once the damage has occurred – such as fibrosis – it cannot be undone.

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