At-home use of wearable physical activity trackers and portable spirometry devices may offer a feasible way of evaluating people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) taking part in clinical trials, a small study suggests. These findings were reported in “Mobile Health Monitoring in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis,”…
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Mutations in two genes, S100A3 and S100A13, were found to be linked to an atypical, early onset form of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in two families in Saudi Arabia. The newly identified gene variants add to knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of PF development, and further support the involvement of calcium metabolism in…
When idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) runs in families, it tends to begin earlier in life and be more severe, a recent study reported. The study,”Clinical characteristics of patients with familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (f-IPF),” was published in the journal BMC Pulmonary Medicine. As its name…
Only a year ago, Florence Attaway — for decades a half-pack-a-day smoker — struggled to walk even one city block. “I had to take a taxi from my home one block to the hospital because I could hardly breathe,” said the 83-year-old New Yorker, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary…
Note: This is the third article in a series written in collaboration with respiratory therapist Mark W. Mangus Sr., RRT, RPFT, FAARC, and oxygen expert Ryan Diesem. This segment also includes contributions from Donna Frownfelter, PT, DPT, MA, CCS, RRT, FCCP, and Marion Mackles, PT, BS, LMT. The first two…
The mortality rate due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) increased from 1979 to 2016 in the United Kingdom, a retrospective analysis shows. Researchers estimate that death due to IPF is close to 7% annually among respiratory diseases, pointing to approximately 5,500 people dying from the disease in the U.K.
NP-120 (ifenprodil), an oral small molecule being repurposed by Algernon Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), has shown promise in preclinical studies and may soon enter Phase 2 clinical tests, the company announced. Originally developed in the 1990s and sold under the brand name…
Screening newborns for genetic diseases with treatments that can prevent crippling or deadly progression, especially for rare disorders, has a ways to go in the United States. No state today tests for all 35 disorders recommended under a federal screening panel, and even in those that come close, rare…
Oklahoma suffers more tornadoes than any other state, has the highest per-capita rate of women in U.S. prisons, ranks second in the number of teen births per 100,000 teenage girls, and has the nation’s third-highest rate of uninsured residents — with 13.9% of all Oklahomans lacking health coverage. As if…
A new clinical model for terminal idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) that allows patients to receive treatment at home has increased patient satisfaction, decreased hospital deaths, led to better symptom management, and lowered healthcare costs. Those outcomes of this new clinical model were published recently in the journal NEJM…
