This is the most typical symptom of pulmonary fibrosis!

Pulmonary fibrosis is most common in men aged 40 to 50. The most common symptom of this lung disease is dyspnea. Many times, dyspnea only occurs after strenuous activity, so it is easily ignored and misdiagnosed.

1. Symptoms of the disease

Pulmonary fibrosis usually occurs between the ages of 40 and 50 and is more common in men than in women. Dyspnea is the most common symptom of pulmonary fibrosis. In mild pulmonary fibrosis, dyspnea occurs only during strenuous activity and is therefore often ignored or misdiagnosed as another disease. As pulmonary fibrosis progresses, dyspnea may also occur at rest, and patients with severe pulmonary fibrosis may experience progressive dyspnea. Other symptoms include dry cough and fatigue. 50% of patients have clubbing and cyanosis, and fine crackles can be heard at the end of inspiration at the lung base. Although there is dyspnea in the early stage, the chest X-ray may be basically normal; in the middle and late stages, diffuse reticular or nodular shadows appear in the middle and lower fields of both lungs, and pleural effusion, thickening or calcification may occasionally be seen. The serious consequences of lung tissue fibrosis lead to changes in the normal lung tissue structure and loss of function. A large amount of fibrotic tissue without gas exchange function replaces the alveoli, resulting in the inability of oxygen to enter the blood. The patient suffers from difficulty breathing, lack of oxygen, acidosis, loss of labor, and relies on a ventilator to survive, and eventually fails and dies.

2. Causes

The cause of IPF is still unknown. Possible risk factors for IPF include:

① Smoking: The risk of smoking is significantly associated with the incidence of familial and sporadic IPF, especially if smoking exceeds 20 packs per year:

② Environmental exposure: IPF is associated with a variety of environmental exposures, such as exposure to metal dust (copper-zinc alloy, lead and steel), wood dust (pine), farming, stonework, polishing, hair conditioners, contact with livestock, plant and animal dust, etc.;

③ Microbial factors: Although the relationship between microbial infection and IPF is not certain at present, some studies suggest that infection, especially chronic viral infection, including Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis virus, cytomegalovirus, human herpes virus, etc. may play a certain role in the development of IPF;

④ Gastroesophageal reflux: Most IPF patients have abnormal gastroesophageal reflux. Abnormal gastroesophageal reflux leads to repeated microaspiration, which is one of the high-risk factors for IPF. However, most IPF patients lack clinical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux, so it is easy to be ignored.

⑤Genetic factors: Familial IPF is an autosomal dominant inheritance, accounting for <5% of all IPF patients. There may be a susceptibility gene for familial IPF.