Ipf

Hello. Thank you for writing today.

Agent Orange can cause respiratory cancers. Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a disease in which tissue deep in your lungs becomes thick and stiff, or scarred, over time. The formation of scar tissue is called fibrosis. As the lung tissue thickens, your lungs can't properly move oxygen into your bloodstream. As a result, your brain and other organs don't get the oxygen they need.

According to the National Blood and Heart Institute: sometimes doctors can find out what is causing pulmonary fibrosis (lung scarring). For example, exposure to environmental pollutants and certain medicines can cause the disease. Environmental pollutants include inorganic dust (silica and hard metal dust) and organic dust (bacteria and animal proteins).

Medicines that are known to cause pulmonary fibrosis in some people include nitrofurantoin (an antibiotic), amiodarone (a heart medicine), methotrexate and bleomycin (both chemotherapy medicines), and many other medicines.

In most cases, however, the cause of lung scarring isn’t known. These cases are called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Concerning IPF - No single test can diagnose IPF. Your doctor may recommend several tests, chest x-rays, lung function tests, and high-resolution computed tomography, among others.

Helena