The symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis can take months or even years to develop. The diagnosis of this disorder can include not just your medical history and a physical exam, but a chest x-ray, a high-resolution CT scan, pulmonary function tests to see how well your lungs can move oxygen into your bloodstream and a lung biopsy. There is no cure for the disease, but there is research being conducted to test the effectiveness of N-acetylcysteine.
Pulmonary Fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis describes the medical condition in which the blood vessels and air spaces in the lungs have been replaced by fibrous tissue, as described in “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine” by Dr. Talmadge King Jr., chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California. As a result, the lungs become stiff and thick. Most of the time, physicians cannot determine what causes this change in the lungs. When that is the case, the disorder is referred to as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This disorder can sometimes be due to a lung disease, however, or due to an exposure to pollutants or toxins, certain medications and radiation therapy.
Symptoms
As the lungs become more fibrotic, it will become harder and harder for them to function. This can make you feel short of breath. You may only feel this way, at first, when you are involved in some type of physical activity. Over time, you can feel short of breath when you are resting. You may also feel tired, have muscle aches, a cough and weight loss. According to the Mayo Clinic, the development of pulmonary fibrosis can be different from one person to another. You may become sick quite fast, while other people may have mild symptoms that take years to get worse.
N-acetylcysteine for Pulmonary Fibrosis
In the November 2005 issue of “The New England Journal of Medicine,” Maurits Demedts, M.D., explained how not having a balance between oxidants and antioxidants may be a contributing factor to the development of the disease. Antioxidants destroy oxidants, which damage cells. N-acetylcysteine, also called N-Acetyl-L-cysteine and acetylcysteine, is an antioxidant. There is no cure for pulmonary fibrosis, so the research group conducted a study involving 80 people who were given 600 mg of N-acetylcysteine three times a day plus prednisone and azathioprine for a year; 75 people were given a placebo. Their results showed adding N-acetylcysteine greatly lowered the progression of pulmonary fibrosis.
N-acetylcysteine as Inhaler for Pulmonary Fibrosis
Patients in the research study of Demedts were given N-acetylcysteine tablets. Hiromi Tomioka wrote an article in the September 2005 issue of “Respirology” about a study originally involving 30 people. Ten of them were given 352 milligrams of N-acetylcysteine to inhale every day for a year. Those in the control group inhaled 4 milligrams a day of bromhexine hydrochloride. The results of this research study were that N-acetylcysteine taken as an aerosol slowed the progression of the disease but did not improve how well the lungs functioned. Currently, the steroid prednisone is used to manage the symptoms of this disease, sometimes along with azathioprine. Some people may also take N-acetylcysteine.
References
- “Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2011”; Stephen McPhee, M.D., Maxine Papadakis, M.D.; 2011
- “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine”; Dan Longo, M.D., Dennis Kasper, M.D. et al.; 2012
- Mayo Clinic: Pulmonary Fibrosis
- “Principles of Critical Care”; Jesse Hall, M.D., Gregory Schmidt, M.D., et al.; 2005
- “Respirology”; A Pilot Study of Aerosolized N-acetylcysteine; Hiromi Tomioka et al.; 2005
- “The New England Journal of Medicine”; High-Dose Acetylcysteine; Maurits Demedts, M.D., et al.; 2005
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