What are the causes of pulmonary fibrosis?

If we know the cause of pulmonary fibrosis and take timely treatment and intervention measures, we can reduce the adverse harm caused to us as much as possible. The cause of pulmonary fibrosis may be inhalation of dust, sulfur dioxide, smoke or radiation damage.

1. Inhaled dust: Silicosis caused by inhalation of free silica dust can cause loss of work and occupational diseases. Various ores, glass, refractory materials, ceramics and other materials contain silica to the same degree. Inhalable dust includes asbestos, talc, antimony, aluminum, coal, beryllium, barium, iron, etc.

2. Inhalation of machine dust: moldy hay, grain, etc. cause farmer's lung; mushroom growers repeatedly inhale mushroom spores from fertilizer production environments, causing mushroom lung; their pigeon (parrot) lung, humidifier lung, air conditioning lung, etc. Zhang Wei, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Shandong Medical Affiliated Hospital

3. Inhaled gases: high concentration oxygen, sulfur dioxide (SO2), chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen oxide (NO), smoke, mercury vapor, etc.

4. Radiation damage: due to lung cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, malignant lymphoma or other malignant tumors in the chest, the lung tissue is damaged in the radiation field during radiation treatment, causing severe inflammatory reaction and fibrosis

5. Drug damage: Drugs that cause pulmonary interstitial fibrosis include anti-tumor drugs such as bleomycin, myleran, cyclophosphamide and methotrexate; anti-arrhythmic drugs such as amiodarone and hydralazine; antibiotic drugs such as nitrofurantoin, etc.