Understanding Exactly How the Lungs Work

According to the COPD Foundation, understanding how the lungs work will help those who suffer from lung diseases have a little bit more control over their breathing. MORE: Seven common symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis. As you inhale, air composed of approximately 21 percent oxygen enters the…

According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, there are seven major airway clearance techniques (ACTs) for patients with lung disease. Airway clearance is needed to help clear away mucus from the lungs to help prevent infections and to improve lung function. Children will need an adult to assist with ACTs, and…

I am still reflecting on an experience I had last week at the grocery store — one that, unfortunately, is common for other patients, too. Several months after being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), I began having to lug around supplemental oxygen. My ability to do…

Researchers at two universities in North Carolina have developed a new method to expand stem cells isolated from patient’s lung biopsies. A team led by Dr. Jason Lobo, assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC), and by Ke Cheng, associate professor in the Department of Molecular…

Recent studies have shown that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may be caused by senescence, a cellular aging process. Now, a team of German researchers have successfully counteracted this mechanism in cell culture by using senolytic drugs that are able to kill senescent epithelial lung cells. These findings were reported in a study…

The protein vimentin triggers autoimmune reactions in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and the intensity of the reactions correlates with the severity of the disease, according to a study. The findings underscore scientists’ belief that autoimmunity — the immune system attacking the body’s own cells instead of invaders — plays…

We need to breathe to stay alive. For some of us, the process is simple and we don’t think too much about it. For others, it’s a constant struggle that requires a lot of concentration and effort. For all of us, it’s important we’re aware that there’s a right—and wrong—way…

It’s funny that the older I seem to get, the more I enjoy spending time at home on weekends and completing different tasks around the house to leave everything in good order for the upcoming week. While the heat and humidity were the primary reasons I stayed…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a public meeting in September 2014, where people living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were asked about the daily effects of the disease and the therapies that were available to them. MORE: Six pulmonary fibrosis complications One of the main…

Thalidomide — a controversial drug that caused thousands of birth defects throughout Europe in the late 1950s and was more recently approved to treat multiple myeloma — may also in fact prevent pulmonary fibrosis (PF), Chinese researchers say.   Their study, “Anti-inflammation and Antioxidant Effects of Thalidomide on Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice and…