I was sound asleep at 3 a.m. on Nov. 25 when I heard my mother call my name. It didn’t sound like she was in distress; it was more like she needed help reaching something on a shelf in the next room. After I awoke, I had some trouble processing…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Birchbiomed’s FS2 (kynurenic acid) for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Orphan drug status is intended to incentivize the development of therapies for rare diseases — defined as those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the…
I conduct research for each of my columns primarily because I want a broader perspective on a topic. Recently, I discussed what should be packed in a “go bag” for a transplant patient receiving the call that donor lungs are available. When I typed “transplant go bag” into a Google…
I remember how exciting it was as kids when Mom served us alphabet soup, seeing all those little letters we were trying to learn. My late husband, Steve, and I felt like we were looking at a bowl of that soup when we started researching idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)…
A novel inhalable therapy has shown promise for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) by outperforming an approved oral medicine in a mouse study. The new treatment, called VB-RT NPs, consists of lipid nanoparticles loaded with two medicines, verteporfin and berbamine, designed to disrupt both the mechanical stiffness and biochemical…
Does it seem like time accelerated during November? I’m not sure if it’s because the hours of sunlight are decreasing or because all manner of holiday decorations have suddenly appeared. I recently contributed to the latter by joining staff and volunteers at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) headquarters…
As my husband Donnie’s diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) slowly unfolded, I found myself oscillating between anger, sorrow, and disbelief. At the time his symptoms appeared, he was only in his 30s. He had an extremely labor-intensive job, walked over 10,000 steps a day, and was incredibly active. He…
The naturally occurring antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid, or ALA, which protects cells against the toxic effects of iron overload, may help reduce lung damage caused by silica — dust particles often found at construction sites and in mining — in pulmonary fibrosis (PF). That’s according to a study using lab-grown…
The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) Summit 2025 began for me with a nonstop flight from Washington, D.C., to Chicago during the longest government shutdown in the history of the U.S. I was resolved to be in Chicago for the summit, so I had backup plans that included taking the…
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