Elderly patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have high morbidity and mortality, and experience a variety of comorbidities both before and after receiving their diagnosis, a study finds. The findings of the study, “Characterizing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients using US Medicare-advantage health plan claims data,” were published in…
Last year, I wrote a gratitude miniseries reflecting on the positive things that took place each month. While I am not continuing that miniseries this year, I did reflect on why this month was so great for me after a colleague commented on how at ease I looked…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the way for X-Rx’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) therapy candidate X-165 to move into the first clinical tests. The FDA approved X-Rx’s…
Results of a Phase 2b clinical trial suggest actigraphy as a relevant tool to detect meaningful clinical changes in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) when treated with Bellerophon Therapeutics’ product INOpulse. PH-ILD includes PH patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (PH-IPF). The…
Shortly after my idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis, my doctor and I had a discussion about employment. While he supported my desire to work at the time, he was very open with his concerns about my ability to do so as my disease progresses. While he couldn’t…
Treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) with Esbriet (pirfenidone) increased five-year survival, and also resulted in less decline in lung function at two years, according to a real-life study from the Czech Republic. The findings also revealed that a specific measure of lung function called diffusing lung capacity…
Letting go of something or someone is hard for all of us. We often face forks in the road where we realize we need to let go of people, expectations, plans, relationships, pain, and a whole lot more. This is especially true for pulmonary fibrosis (PF) patients and…
He’s a musician and a clothing designer. He’s a published author. He’s a professional scuba-diving instructor — and he has an intense passion for underwater shark photography. In fact, Noah Greenspan is anything but your typical New York pulmonary physical therapist. Since 1998, Greenspan has been running the Pulmonary Wellness…
Talking about lung transplantation is frightening. It was scary when it was initially introduced following my diagnosis nearly three years ago, and it continues to be difficult to talk about. This is despite all that I’ve been through with my disease progression over the years. Recently, I talked…
A protein called cadherin-11 (CDH11) ties together macrophages and myofibroblasts in an “eternal hug” in the lungs of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients, promoting a profibrotic environment, a study shows. Therapies that target CDH11 and break the “hug” between the two cell types may help stop this profibrotic process. The…
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