Lung Fibrosis Increases Levels of Specific Surface Proteins, Suggests Disease Markers

Lung Fibrosis Increases Levels of Specific Surface Proteins, Suggests Disease Markers

A recent study published in the journal PLOS One, found two members of a class of proteins called surfactant proteins (SPs) at increased levels as a result of lung fibrosis and suggests that future studies could reveal the proteins, SP-A and SP-D,  as markers of disease severity. Pulmonary emphysema and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are defined…

Lung Transplants at Loyola Center Give 2 Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients New Hope

After reading a story in a newspaper, Cloyd Goley of Farmersville, Ohio, who has pulmonary fibrosis, felt newly hopeful. The article, published in the Dayton Daily News, told the story of the Rev. Joseph Kyles, a Chicago minister with  pulmonary fibrosis who was able to return to his work after undergoing a double-lung transplant. “It’s…

Enhanced Stratification of IPF Patients Could Lead to Better Personalized Treatment

Patient stratification to deliver personalized medicine has become a routine practice in oncology that may be of great help in understanding and managing pulmonary diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Supported by a deep understanding of a disease,  stratification is a process that categorizes patients into subgroups according to disease progression,…

Case Study Looks at Difficulties in Treating Both Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema in a Patient

Doctors rarely see patients with symptoms of both pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema, but those who do quickly learn that these patients chart a very different clinical course than those with either condition. A case study by researchers at  Deccan College of Medical Sciences in India and the University of Florida underscores this, detailing a patient with combined pulmonary fibrosis…

Phase 2a Study to Evaluate Drug for IPF That Might Improve Blood Oxygen Levels

Global Blood Therapeutics is initiating a Phase 2a clinical trial to assess its oral drug GBT440, an investigational hemoglobin modifier, as a daily treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and hypoxemia. Hypoxemia, or low blood oxygen levels, results in an insufficient amount of oxygen reaching the tissues (hypoxia). It is a leading cause of clinical decline in IPF…

Why is Pulmonary Fibrosis so Difficult to Diagnose and Treat?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLrR8QNa-E4 Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung condition that causes scarring of the lung tissue which results in difficulty breathing. With this video shared by the Royal Society of Medicine, listen in on a lecture by Dr. Melissa Wickremasinghe about living with pulmonary fibrosis and why the disease…