This caught my eye on CP24.com - Enjoy!

Everyone knows that booming music can lead to ringing eardrums and hearing damage. But here’s some information that might be new to you: it can attack your lungs too.

Experts have discussed four cases where they say fans of high decibel music experienced lung collapse, known as pneumothorax.

One example saw a man driving when he was stricken by the condition, which causes breathlessness and chest pain. Then doctors traced it back to a 1,000 watt “bass box” in his car, meant to increase his stereo’s volume.

Usually collapsed lungs are caused by smoking, sickness that has left a person weak, drugs such as sedatives, barbiturates or tranquilizers and chronic obstructive lung disease.

It happens when air infiltrates the area between the lung and the membrane covering it, after little abrasions happen in the lung wall.

The experts think that the powerful doses of low-frequency but high-energy noise makes the lung break because air and tissue have different reactions to sound.

Other examples doctors listed in a medical journal called Thorax, included that of a 25-year-old smoker who had trouble after spending time close to a club speaker, a 23-year-old non-smoker whose lung collapsed during a pop concert and a 23-year-old smoker who had been at a heavy metal performance when he fell ill.

Dr John Harvey, from Southmead Hospital, said the research should get doctors asking the right questions and maybe passing out advice to not stand right beside loud speakers or install bass boxes in their vehicles.


August 31, 2004