For greater awareness of lung disease

Nearly 5 million people around the world suffer from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, the diagnosis of which takes over a year, on an average

September is the Global Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month, and doctors in the city have been trying to raise awareness on this disease.

Nearly 5 million people around the world suffer from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) which affects the lung interstitium (the tissue and space around the air sacs of the lungs).

The lungs become stiff and patients have problems breathing, suffer from dizziness, loss of appetite, fatigue and continuous dry cough, a release from R. Narasimhan, senior respiratory physician, said.

The symptoms of IPF resemble the symptoms of asthma and COPD and so, it is often misdiagnosed.

On an average, it takes over a year for the disease to be identified correctly.

Research also shows a lack of awareness on the disease. IPF has no known causes, but there are some risk factors such as family history, smoking, acid reflux, microbial infections and environmental exposure that make some people more susceptible to the disease.

There has now been a vast improvement in the kind of medication available, according to the release.