As I sit down to write this column, I am having a difficult day. Following a recent column about vulnerability, I heard from many readers who said my words encouraged them to express their own vulnerabilities. As a result of that feedback, I want to share that today I…
I Did Everything Right, So Why Did I End Up with Pulmonary Fibrosis?
People with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis have shorter telomeres — the protective caps at the end of chromosomes — but shortening may occur prior to disease onset. The study with that finding, “From organ to cell: Multi-level telomere length assessment in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” was published…
Statins, a class of medications widely prescribed to lower cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease and stroke, may be an effective treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a study suggests. The study, “Screening for YAP Inhibitors Identifies Statins as Modulators of Fibrosis,” was published recently…
The newly founded Pulmonary Wellness Foundation recently launched its interactive online 2020 Lecture Series, covering an array of topics related to respiratory health for patients, caregivers, family members, and clinicians. The free webinars are presented at 7 p.m. EST every Wednesday by the nonprofit and its founder, cardiopulmonary…
Blocking production of the enzyme JNK1 in cells lining the lungs’ airways protected mice from developing induced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and almost completely reversed tissue fibrosis (scarring) in a mouse model, a study shows. The study, “Airway epithelial specific deletion of Jun-N-terminal kinase 1 attenuates…
Last week, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of my mom, Holly, getting on the lung transplant list. If you’ve been a reader of mine for a while, you know that getting on the list was not a smooth process for us. She was pretty…
Female sex, younger age, and a better lung function at time of diagnosis tend to support a a better overall prognosis among people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a large registry-based study reports. In contrast, the presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH), lung cancer,…
At my last doctor’s appointment, my physician asked me how I felt. I replied, “Some days, I feel invincible.” She gave me the biggest smile and told me how happy she was that I was doing so well. While I get colds and sometimes contract a virus, when I…
An emerging healthcare priority in the past decade has been patient-centered care. It is an idea that many facilities are still trying to define. Patient-centered care is simple to me: person first, patient second. I’m grateful to my healthcare team for getting this right. Before my diagnosis with…
The antibiotic azithromycin (AZT), frequently prescribed for fighting bacterial infections, has anti-fibrotic effects and promotes the death of fibroblasts — cells promoting fibrosis, or scarring — in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a new study shows. These findings suggest the potential of AZT as a therapeutic…
