Report: Loud Music Can Cause Lung Collapse

[Bunbury]

Amy Norton of Reuters Health reports: Blasting music can be hard on the ears and the neighbors, and now researchers say it can also pack enough punch to collapse a lung.

Reporting in the medical journal Thorax, they describe the cases of four young men who suffered a lung collapse ? technically called pneumothorax ? that appeared to be triggered by loud music. Three of the men were at a concert or club when the pneumothorax occurred, while the fourth was in his car, which was outfitted with a 1,000-watt bass box because he "liked to listen to loud music."

A pneumothorax occurs when a small rupture in one of the lungs allows air to leak into the space between the lungs and the chest wall, causing the lung to collapse. Symptoms include breathlessness and chest pain on the affected side.

A small, partial collapse may resolve on its own, but more severe cases may require the insertion of a chest tube to allow the air to escape the chest cavity.


I should have been dead a long time ago

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

This is horrible.

I hope this is a rare thing. I should be dead too.

 

[DaveC]

I don't believe a word of this story.

 

[nurse chrissi]

I have seen many things cause a pneumothorax - mostly large protruding metal objects (lungs tend not to like them) but loud music? - really that would have to be freakishly loud music with large protruding metal objects hanging around

 

[u2popmofo]

This article was on Yahoo News earlier today (so the report is as credible as anything), very interesting.

 

[martha]

I'll die at the wheel of my car then.

 

[nurse chrissi]

again, protruding objects collapse lungs - high pressures - really high pressures - sharp things etc. those are things that make lungs collapse - and if the storys are true - well a chest tube is a simple procedure....took care of one today as a matter of fact - no big deal

 

[DaveC]

exactly.

There's no way that loud music could cause a rupture in a lung...the only possible thing would be vibrations from bass, but those vibrations are so minor that your lungs must already be in terrible shape.

Hell, if an earthquake doesn't rupture lungs, then certainly a little vibration from bass wouldn't.

Just because it's on Yahoo doesn't mean it's true.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I absolutely believe this. I know I've been at concerts, especially in small clubs, where the speakers were so loud and the bass thumped so hard that it literally left you breathless.

 

[u2popmofo]

exactly.


Just because it's on Yahoo doesn't mean it's true.

Yeah, you're right, Reuters Health is such a unreliable source


I think some of you havent seen the 'may cause' line. Sure, it's not going to happen to everyone, sure it's not common. Can it happen under certain circumstances? It seems so.

 

[indra]

People have had seizures triggered by the flashing lights on video games (mostly in arcades) and died. Strange things can happen. Just because it sounds weird or you have no experience with it doesn't mean it's not possible. Hell, my dad broke a rib coughing. That doesn't sound very likely, but it happened.

Here's the article from the BBC (but perhaps that's not such a reputable source?). And Thorax is an international journal of respritory medicine.

Loud music lung collapse warning

Loud music can do more than damage your hearing - it can also cause your lungs to collapse.
Experts writing in the Thorax detail four cases where loud music fans experienced the condition, known as a pneumothorax.

One man was driving when he experienced a pneumothorax, characterised by breathlessness and chest pain.

Doctors linked it to a 1,000 watt "bass box" fitted to his car to boost the power of his stereo.

A pneumothorax occurs when air gets into the space between the lung and the membrane that covers it when small breaks occur in the lung wall.

It is thought the intense pulses of low-frequency, high-energy sound causes the lung to rupture because air and tissue respond differently to sound.

The usual risk factors for collapsed lungs are smoking, illness that has weakened the patient, chronic obstructive lung disease or use of drugs that depress alertness or consciousness, such as sedatives, barbiturates, tranquilizers, or alcohol.
In a minority of cases, the oxygen supply to the vital organs is seriously diminished and the patient's life can be put at risk.

A pneumothorax is treated by inserting a tube called a chest drain to allow air to escape from the chest cavity.

Concerts

In a second case detailed in Thorax, a 25-year-old smoker saw doctors after experiencing a sudden severe pain in the left side of this chest while standing next to a loud speaker in a club.

A third man, a 23-year-old non-smoker, experienced a collapsed lung while attending a pop concert, where he was standing quietly near to several large loud speakers.

In the final case outlined in the journal, a 23-year-old regular smoker had suffered pneumothorax on several occasions.

During a follow-up consultation, where doctors were talking to him about what could have led up to each incident, he revealed that on two of the four occasions, he had been attending a heavy metal concert when he became ill.

Dr John Harvey, of Southmead Hospital in Bristol, who wrote the Thorax report, with colleagues from Belgium, told BBC News Online: "I don't think we'll stop people going to clubs, but we may be able to advise them not to stand next to loud speakers or put a bass box into their car."

Dr Harvey added: "A typical district hospital might see about 50 patients a year in casualty.

"We can't estimate how common loud music is as a cause, but it is probably quite significant.

"The condition is three times commoner in men than in women, and a proportion of sufferers may have been clubbing or standing next to a bass box at a pop concert."

Dr Harvey added: "Both my Belgian colleagues and I have seen cases and the more we mention it, the more people say 'I had a case like that'.

"So we're flagging it up so that doctors can ask the right questions."

 

[Angela Harlem]

again, protruding objects collapse lungs - high pressures - really high pressures - sharp things etc. those are things that make lungs collapse - and if the storys are true - well a chest tube is a simple procedure....took care of one today as a matter of fact - no big deal

also absolutely nothing has the ability to collapse a lung. like you know, walking along a beach, watching tv, playing table tennis....

doesnt have to be protuding objects, doesn't have to be loud music. i know you're a nurse, but you'd also know that what you listed isnt a requirement.

 

[beegee]

angie's right. it absolutely does not HAVE to be a protruding object.

i know of someone whose son had a history of asthma and caught pneumonia. his lungs collapsed and he was in intensive care on a respirator for two weeks.

so, yeah. no protruding objects there.

 

[nurse chrissi]

true you don't need a protruding object to develop a pneumo but in a generally healthy person who is young - and by young I'm talking under say 70 - spontaneous pneumos are a very rare event without the addition of some blunt trauma. Someone who is in poor health/lung disease etc is at a greater risk for a pneumothorax true - but loud music causing a lung collapse in a young person is - or has to be- an extremely rare instance. My point would be worry more about hearing loss as a medical concern rather than a lung collapse for exposure to loud music. I'm not stating that this is baseless fact - just that it is extremely rare - extremely.

 

[nurse chrissi]

Doctors linked it to a 1,000 watt "bass box" fitted to his car to boost the power of his stereo.

Just finished reading the full report - in a car with the windows rolled up, with that much bass - that would cause a change in the pressure which could theoretically cause a pneumo - you average person - God I hope - would not be that dumb

 

[indra]

Apparently it's not as rare as previously thought, hence the article.

 

[Angela Harlem]

I thought it was more 'common' in younger (under 30ish) tall males. And fit too. Its not like its as common as a cold, maybe I just know too many people this has happened to Like my cousin who had both her lungs collapse at the same time Its funny now, but not at the time obviously lol. a central line or two and she was fine

 

[nurse chrissi]

poor girl! I hope she is doing better now. Yeah apparently it is more common in thin males 20-40 (a pulmonologist and I had a nice long conversation about pneumothoraxs today - memo to self do not ask pulomonologist opinion again - 30 minutes later that was the most information that I had obtained - I'm always fascinated by what researchers come up with as a general population for life-threatening events - ie most of the population