My Dog is the Best Therapy for IPF

For animal lovers out there, it won’t come as a surprise that having a dog has been a blessing since being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in early 2016. I often reflect on the timeline of when my dog “accidentally” became part of my life, shortly before…

Some of the most successful campaigns, be it fundraising initiatives or trying to raise awareness, capture the attention of donors through personal stories. These personal stories are used in a way that is meaningful for the patient, while also highlighting the importance for others who may be less familiar with…

British regulators have paved the way for people with severe cases of pulmonary fibrosis to gain access to Prometic Life Sciences’ tissue-scarring therapy PBI-4050 before it is approved. The step the regulators took was to designate PBI-4050 a Promising Innovative Medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The next step would be…

This animated video from Demystifying Medicine explains the complication of pulmonary fibrosis in scleroderma patients. It begins by sharing that 80 percent of Asian scleroderma patients suffer from some form of pulmonary disease and that it’s the leading cause…

Last week, I visited my pulmonologist at the University of California, San Francisco. I was a little nervous, because my last appointment six months ago was very discouraging. I had worsened significantly. This time, I got better news: no change since the last visit, which was encouraging. My…

By definition, a rhetorical question refers to one that seeks to make a point as opposed to seeking an answer. Lately, I have been asking myself rhetorical questions, and I am not expecting answers. But I am finding myself frustrated there are no answers. Most of these are…

Researchers have found another piece in the molecular puzzle of changes leading to pulmonary fibrosis — a cell signaling factor. It offers scientists a new target for developing lung-scarring treatments. Lung damage leads to the production of a protein that attracts immune cells to the area. Without this signaling, mice…

A factor called Krüpple-like-factor 4, or KLF4, treated lung fibrosis in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) by preventing epithelial cells of the lung from moving into a fibrosis-promoting state, researchers in China report, suggesting its potential as an IPF therapy. The study “Krüpple-like-factor 4 Attenuates Lung…

As I sit down to write this column, I am wiping away tears of frustration. I hope that getting all of my thoughts down on paper will help. I’ll be candid: I am angry at my chronic illness. I don’t have time for it, and neither do the…

Thyroid hormone, delivered through aerosol inhalation, helped to resolve lung scarring in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to research published in the journal Nature Medicine. The study provides evidence that lung fibrosis is a disease caused — at least partly — by abnormalities in metabolic processes…