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Doctors Warn of Feather Duvet Lung After Bedding Sickens Scottish Man

His doctor asked him if he smoked, had pets in the home, or recently changed to feather bedding.

Doctors have reported a case of “feather duvet lung,” a disease caused by breathing in feather dust from pillows and bedding, according to a case study published Monday. Martin Taylor of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, went to four doctor’s appointments, which failed to find the cause of his unexplained dizziness, breathlessness, and fatigue. “Two months after the onset of the symptoms, I was unable to stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time without feeling like I was going to pass out,” Taylor said in the case study. Taylor, 43, was initially diagnosed with a lower respiratory tract infection, but when symptoms didn’t clear up, his doctor began asking him if he smoked, had pets in the home, or recently changed to feather bedding. When Taylor said yes, his doctor then ordered a blood test, which confirmed the presence of antibodies to bird feather dust. In the case study, doctors call on medical providers to be alert for possible cases of feather duvet lung, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, if patients come in with similar symptoms.