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Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal irreversible disease that severely diminishes lung function. IPF is part of a 200 + lung disease group known as interstitial lung diseases (ILD). The ILD group of diseases adversely affects the interstitium, which is the interstitial space between the lung tissue and air sacs. IPF is characterized by the scarring and honeycombing of the lung tissue and the accretion of fibrosis. The word 'idiopathic' is derived from the Greek word ‘idios’, which means 'of unknown cause' and aptly explain the status of the prognosis of this deadly disease. Some of the symptoms of IPF is shortness of breath (dyspnea), crackling sound in the lungs, finger clubbing and unrelenting dry cough.

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