Even With IPF, I’m Still Privileged

Given the various unfortunate events happening around the world, including the evolving war between Russia and Ukraine, I’ve been reflecting on the many ways my family and I are blessed. At times, I’ve been guilty of not realizing my privilege. I’ve always had the basic necessities, including a roof…

Bionews, the publisher of this website, hosted a virtual panel discussion on Rare Disease Day 2022, taking a deeper dive into what it’s like to live with a rare disease, including conversations about advocacy, mental health, survivor’s guilt, treatment of minority patients, and more. The Monday event, “A…

Pliant Therapeutics will start testing, in trial, a higher dose of its investigational oral small molecule PLN-74809, an anti-fibrotic therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The higher dose of 320 mg will be given to about 28 adults with IPF once daily for at least six months as…

Internet scams are widespread and can infiltrate every aspect of our digital presence. The prevalence of online dating scams, for instance, was recently highlighted in the trending Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler.” Scams have become particularly rampant in rare disease communities, and are spreading rapidly via social media platforms,…

The investigational oral therapy Haduvio (nalbuphine extended-release tablets) significantly reduced chronic cough in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to interim results from the proof-of-concept Phase 2 CANAL trial. Findings in 26 patients showed a mean 51.7% placebo-adjusted decline in daytime cough frequency with the treatment, meeting the…

A rare disease puts an economic burden on the patients, families, and caregivers that it affects, and will no doubt be an integral part of discussions on Rare Disease Day 2022, which brings international awareness about the more than 300 million people living with rare disorders. Part of that…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given breakthrough status to Boehringer Ingelheim’s BI-1015550, an experimental oral therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), based partly on the findings of a clinical trial in IPF patients. A breakthrough therapy designation works to speed the development and review of…

Joint infection with a virus and bacteria in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) significantly raises their risk of dying — by more than eight times — relative to patients with no such infections, a study reported. Viral plus bacterial infections were linked to acute exacerbations and disease progression in…

For most of my adult life I was blissfully unaware of rare diseases. This lasted until 2016, when I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a life-threatening and progressive lung disease that affects about 200,000 Americans, with 50,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the U.S. Like many others,…

The approved antibiotic nifuroxazide halted the development, and reversed the signs, of induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in mice, a study showed. These data support further research into the repurposing of nifuroxazide as a viable therapeutic option for people with PF, according to scientists. The team noted that there were…