Dr. Tanzira Zaman and Dr. Ekaterini Zapantis partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim to share the health messages below. Dr. Zaman and Dr. Zapantis are paid consultants for Boehringer Ingelheim.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) are progressive conditions that can cause continuous decline in lung function.1,2 While IPF's root cause is unknown, PPF is linked to an underlying clinical interstitial lung disease (ILD) diagnosis — like autoimmune disorders or environmental exposures or can also arise from unknown causes.1,2,3
Affecting hundreds of thousands in the U.S., patients may dismiss the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis or mistakenly attribute them to factors like fitness level or aging.4,5,6,7 Nonspecific symptoms also lead to misdiagnosis.7
"Diagnostic delay and misdiagnosis remain common with IPF and PPF. These represent conditions in which we have already seen and/or expect clinical worsening," says Tanzira Zaman, MD, Medical Director, Interstitial Lung Disease Program, Cedars-Sinai. "That's why it's important to diagnose these conditions sooner."
"Delays in diagnosis allow further loss of lung function," says Ekaterini Zapantis, MD, Managing Partner and Chief Medical Officer, Rheumatology Center of WNY. "Management of my patients with PPF is highly collaborative, utilizing shared decision-making with pulmonologists."
