What are the drugs for treating pulmonary fibrosis

When fibrosis occurs in the lungs, it needs to be treated promptly, otherwise the fibrosis will gradually harm the alveoli and cause difficulty in breathing. At present, the research and development of drugs for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis is gradually increasing, and many special drugs that are effective for pulmonary fibrosis have emerged to treat the adverse reactions caused by the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Smoking, gastroesophageal reflux disease, environmental influences, heredity, gene mutations, drugs and other factors may cause the lungs to be damaged and over-inflamed for a long time, leading to the occurrence of pulmonary fibrosis. However, if there is protection from Ganoderma lucidum at the same time, perhaps the crisis can be resolved invisibly.

Pulmonary fibrosis can cause the lungs to swell due to lesions (increase in lung weight), and patients will also lose weight due to difficulty breathing affecting appetite. However, the lung weight and body weight of patients given Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides, especially the high-dose group, were closer to normal patients. Although the steroid group also had this effect, the effect was not as obvious as that of the high-dose Ganoderma lucidum group.

In addition, Ganoderma lucidum can reduce the number of inflammatory cells infiltrating the lungs, and reduce collagen deposition and hydroxyproline content in the lungs (collagen is the material for the formation of fibrosis, and hydroxyproline is the main amino acid for synthesizing collagen), thereby reducing the severity of lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. Moreover, whether it is a low dose or a high dose of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide, the effect is better than steroids. Of course, the effect of a high dose of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide is more significant.

The pathological mechanism of pulmonary fibrosis is complex, but it is certain that oxidative damage caused by free radicals plays a key role. According to this study, Ganoderma lucidum can increase the content of various antioxidant enzymes in the lungs, including glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), etc., while reducing oxidative damage to cells (less oxidative product MDA). This shows that part of the protective effect of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides comes from "enhancing the antioxidant capacity of the lungs."

This research result not only proves that Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides can prevent and treat the occurrence of pulmonary fibrosis, but also reminds cancer patients using bleomycin of the feasibility of using Ganoderma lucidum as an auxiliary treatment.

This traditional medicine, which is commonly used to treat head and neck cancer, lymphoma, and testicular cancer, seems to be effective, but there is a 5-10% chance that it may cause pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis. To prevent further progression to irreversible pulmonary fibrosis, drugs (such as steroids) are usually used to suppress the occurrence of pneumonia. However, steroids suppress immune function and are not conducive to cancer prevention. If Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides are used instead, it may provide better protection for the lungs, help inhibit tumor growth, and reduce other side effects of the drug. Isn't this killing two birds with one stone?