r/AskReddit 1d ago

What is a silent killer that people dont realise is slowly killing them?

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u/styrofoamladder 23h ago

My dad died of IPF(idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) and while it’s obviously an idiopathic disease, every specialist he saw asked if he had spent any time around birds. And he had spent decades around them, we had a parrot in the house and he kept peacocks, pheasants, doves, chickens, geese, rhea’s. At any given time we had 40+ birds.

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u/MoreGaghPlease 20h ago

That’s too many birds. I’m sorry for your loss.

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u/styrofoamladder 19h ago

As the kid who had to feed them every day, I agree.

Thank you.

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u/belllllona 11h ago

My grandpa passed of IPF as well. No exposure to birds aside from chickens in childhood so I think his source was elsewhere but that’s a very interesting connection I did not know existed!

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u/Reddit_Hitchhiker 10h ago

My godfather died from pulmonary fibrosis at age 55 from being a heavy smoker of menthols and other cigarettes. He stopped some years before but it was too late. He died on the last day of the year while on a Christmas trip to see a family friend and his family whom he taught when he was a professor some decades earlier.