Pulmonary Fibrosis Lung Disease

Pulmonary Fibrosis is Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and has been commonly named cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis. The word Fibrosis is referred to scarring thus the disease Pulmonary Fibrosis means scarring of the lung; it harms the tissues that are placed in ones lungs. This disease belongs to one of those two classic interstitial lung disease, the other being sarcoidosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis is also named an auto immune disease. Some of the symptoms of this disease are- having discomfort in the chest, losing ones appetite, excessive loss of weight, breathing problems especially with exertion, Chronic dry, hacking cough, Fatigue and weakness. The severity of these symptoms and the worsening of these symptoms can increase with time.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a disease that has affected more than five million people worldwide. Patients are usually at the age of forties and fifties when they are diagnosed. The average survival from the time of diagnosis varies between two and a half to three and a half years, depending on the severity of the patients and in some cases the patients may live more than ten years.

There are more than 200.000 patients suffering from Pulmonary fibrosis in the United States. This disease is caused by several conditions like chronic inflammatory processes, infections, environmental agents, exposure to ionizing radiation, for example a radiation therapy to treat tumors of the chest, chronic conditions and certain medications. In some of the cases chronic pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis develops without an identifiable cause.

Pulmonary fibrosis in present has no particular treatment and cannot be cured. When a doctor examines the lungs of the patient who is suffering from this disease, he can hear the sound of crackling in the chest. In certain cases the x-ray of the chest may or may not be abnormal, but during a special x-ray test that is named a high resolution CAT scan can quite frequently demonstrate abnormalities.

The diagnosis of the disease Pulmonary fibrosis can be confirmed with the help of lung biopsy. The people who do not respond to the medical therapy usually have the condition of this disease, as well as the non specific interstitial pneumonitis that is one of the other type of fibrosis might respond to immune suppressive therapy.

Pulmonary fibrosis disease can be caused by certain conditions such as excessive smoking of Cigarette, inhaling of environmental, industrial, occupational or any other kind of pollutants, some of the diseases like the Scleroderma, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Sarcoidosis, some medications and some times even the Therapeutic radiations can result in this incurable disease.

The options for the treatment of Pulmonary fibrosis is comparatively limited. Till now there is no cure or medication to provide help for this disease as once the condition of scarring initializes it will remain as it is and will become a permanent feature. The only therapeutic option that is available for the treatment of this disease is lung transplantation. At times this diagnosis can be really very difficult. Pulmonary fibrosis