Leave no stone unturned. This is a basic tenet of any investigation, something I learned very early in my career as a special agent. It also seems to be a practice employed by my healthcare team, which now includes an additional doctor. Last week, I added endocrinologist Oksana Davydov…
Vertebral fractures lead me down a new path on my health journey
A committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is recommending orphan drug status — a designation that aims to speed therapy development in rare diseases — for tranilast, the active ingredient in NXP002, an inhaled formulation from Nuformix for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A decision by the…
Disrupting the rhythm of day-to-day life with pulmonary fibrosis comes at a cost. When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in January 2017, my medications changed dramatically. I went from taking only Zyrtec (cetirizine hydrochloride) for seasonal allergies to requiring multiple meds that…
A cancer immunotherapy known as ipilimumab was able to reduce scar formation and promote tissue regeneration in the lungs of a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Treatment boosted the immune system’s ability to clear senescent cells, or those that no longer divide or grow but accumulate in…
My adventure continues. At this point, regular readers might be thinking, “What now?” Some may even pause to make some popcorn before reading further. I was surprised when I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2017, because I had led a relatively healthy life. Deciding to be positive on…
As of April 11, almost 105,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant in the U.S., according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Of those, 993 are waiting for a lung transplant. In the past year, 879 lung transplants were performed. When I was diagnosed with idiopathic…
I recently underwent a bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage. While I was confident that I was under the care of competent professionals and trusted that the procedure would be conducted efficiently, I experienced a brief moment of apprehension and unease just before it. A bronchoscopy allows doctors to view your airways…
The abnormal accumulation of immune plasma cells in the lungs — and their subsequent generation of damaging antibodies — may be a key driver of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to new research by scientists from Rutgers Health. The researchers found that antibody-producing plasma cells first accumulated in the…
Have you discovered the Pulmonary Fibrosis News Forums yet? Think of them as a virtual café where you can stop in and read a couple of items from the discussion areas, comment on questions from others, or pose a question to the group. Each time a new member joins,…
Blocking Piezo2, a protein receptor that senses mechanical forces in tissues — ones such as stress, strain, and stiffness — may be a new way to slow the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to a study by U.S. researchers. The scientists, who noted that this was the…
