Dust Clog
Causes
The
(Being exposed to dust for long periods of time. Mostly common in mines of Garsuth due to their [Bergart]-rich mountains.)
Symptoms
First you may feel a bit heavy in the chest, coughing regularly. Unusually heavy breathing during physical light labor is also a symptom of dust clog. At later stages of the illness you get reduced lung capacity and a clear sense of mucus along the inside of the airways. The difficulty breathing properly and the throat being covered by a layer of dust causes ones' voice might change, becoming more raspy and hoarse.
If exposed for long enough and not treated, the symptoms can worsen to coughing up blood and even greater trouble breathing. The general fitness is worsened and doing more demanding physical labor can be really tough or almost impossible, due to the lowered oxygen intake.
Treatment
Good things to do to prevent dust clog from happening in the first place are spending time outside ever so often and taking good care of your beard. Dwarves' beards can act as a natural filter if properly managed.
With more severe symptoms medical action is needed. Garsuth Hospital have a good treatment plan against dust clog. The Terill violet is a medicinal plant used for making the medicine. It is ground up to a pulver that is steamed and breathed in. The steam acts as a cleanser, with the Terill's sterilizing properties it removes some of the dust. The procedure is done multiple times to ensure that the majority of the dust is removed. It never disappears entirely, it is something you have to live with, but in varying degrees.
Prognosis
Dust clog may be lethal, but it rarely happens. If the dust clog is not treated the trouble breathing will lead to not being able to breathe at all which ends in the slow death of suffocation.
It will lower one's quality of life due to it's chronic nature. Luckily, with the right treatment the symptoms can be suppressed.
History
Dust clog has existed for many years, but it is not commonly known outside of communities in the mountains. When those communities started mining, they quickly discovered the disease. Some thought it was due to the mountains peculiar moss growing atop it; some thought their "god" felt betrayed and treated unfairly and had stricken them with a disease; some even thought it simply had to do with the dwarfs way of living so grossly.
Cultural Reception
Sadly the rumor of the disease being caused by the dwarfs own habits and own way still lives on. Some are scared of going near coughing dwarfs thinking that they themselves will be infected. It is now known that Dust Clog simply is the aftermath of irresponsible work ethics in the Garsuth mines (which now are massively improved upon), but yet these individuals are not convinced. This disease is common among dwarfs and it only reinforces the preception of dwarfs having bad manners, bad habits, and now even bad health. The misconception is simply that this disease somehow will spread the tendency of carelessness to other races than only dwarfs.
Type
Chemical Compound
Origin
Natural
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired
Rarity
Uncommon
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