Interstitial fibrosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma
As previously discussed, lung cancer and mesothelioma are very closely related, but are not the same disease. A third similar condition is pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic lung condition, but is not cancerous. It is also called interstitial pulmonary fibrosis or interstitial fibrosis.
IF is characterized by the scarring and thickening of the tissue between the air sacs of the lungs. It is usually triggered by extensive periods of inflamation around the air sacs. Though there are several variations of IF, all occur due to the same main causes:
-Some known or unknown agent causes damage to the lungs.
-The air sacs become inflamed in response to the offending agent.
-Scar tissue forms, destroying healthy tissue, and the lung becomes stiff, impairing its ability to breathe and carry oxygen.
Asbestos is one of the man causes of IF. An irritant and pollutant like asbestos causes serious damage when it enters human airways; in the short run, lungs usually become inflamed. In the long run, inflammation can lead to scarring, triggering conditions like IF.
My mom, 90 yrs old, just recovered from a bout with pneumonia and c-diff, has had 3 thorancentisis, (she has had 2 bouts with pneumonia one month apart) the last test result showed rare methosemelia cells, Dr. hasn’t addressed that, has just said that no cancer? She just got out of the hospital a week ago and already she has sounds in her lungs. She has also been diagnosed wtih heart failure. I am just curious, the dr. didn’t know that I received the results, I just asked what her tests results showed, thinking that he would mention it..