Lipoid pneumonia, or lipid pneumonia, is a rare condition that occurs when oil or fat enters the lungs. Lipoid means relating to fat. Lipoid pneumonia symptoms can include a cough, high fever, and shortness of breath.
Lipoid/Lipid Pneumonia
Several times in the past few years I have been surviving on chocolate bars during times of stress, and the boredom of the Covid lockdown. This started bleeding gums and a discoloured tooth.
Googling around I found the ancient Indian practice of oil pulling (slooshing oil around in the mouth for 5-15 mins to improve gum health). As I already had some coconut oil I tried it for a few weeks. I couldn’t see how it would do harm: you spit the gunk out and the practice has a long pedigree.
The results were very good: my gums got better and the tooth returned to its normal colour. So I made it a daily practice while showering.
I developed a dry cough and was spitting up small flecks of blood recently. I couldn’t work out what it was, but I had an accident recently (which I may write about) and in A&E (ER) got the full works including a chest x-ray which was normal, no sign of tumours or anything.
It could be a dusty environment, or a bit a phlegm, but it was persistent…
I bought the book by Dr Michael Greger How Not to Age. Right at the end (Page 558) he says that he discourages oil pulling as it can lead to lipoid pneumonia as small amounts of oil get into the lungs. He’s quite negative about it.
Obviously it is really hard to diagnose but I have ceased the oil pulling as an experiment and the flecks of blood have stopped and the coughing is somewhat reduced.
This is just speculation: I have not even mentioned it to my doctor because it’s so obscure but I’m now tending to think Greger is right.
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Nlo
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Curious. I’m glad you seem to be getting better. I did oil pulling consistently for probably 4-6 months and had great results with no downside except that I probably looked like a crazy lady. I would do this while walking my dog so I could never do more than smile and nod to my neighbors. I would recommend this a a truly wonderful health practice and hope to get the discipline to do it again myself. I will watch for any signs of lung complications, thanks to your information.
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The coughing is slowly and steadily diminishing. It’s hard to put a direct cause to it, apart from lipoid pneumonia it could have been:
cooking in a small and ill-ventilated kitchen
lots of dust in the storage under my bed (which I cleaned out last weekend)
general air pollution
Some kind of winter respiratory problem
However, given the way it has resolved since I stopped the oil pulliing (and the blood flecks are gone) I think it was probably lipoid pneumonia. This is a lesson for me, and a classic example of how some beneficial practices have also negatives.
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Forgot to say, of course there could be multiple factors, like “all of the above”.
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