In your day-to-day life, you come across different types of disorders and diseases which take a huge toll on us not only physically, but also mentally. However, at the end of the day, it is important for us to understand how these diseases work their way in order to be able to better handle the situation and tackle the disease. One such disease which is capable of going all the way to terrible symptoms by starting off with a mild condition is Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IFP) which is a chronic disorder of the lungs. The characteristics of this disease include stiffening, scarring, and thickening of the tissues present in the lungs. While this disease is capable of finally resulting in respiratory failure, how the disease progresses can differ significantly from one person to another. While in some cases it can progress extremely fast, in some others, there might be absolutely no progress in the deterioration of the condition for quite a few years. Understanding the symptoms of the disease and treating them properly and in a timely manner can help both the patient and his/her family recuperate in a better manner.

At the very beginning stage of this particular disorder, Idiopathic Pulmonary Disorder may not have any particular symptoms shown. As the development of symptoms takes quite some time to develop and also vary significantly from one person to another, in several cases, individuals may experience an exacerbated window where the symptoms worsen before reducing back to normal. The symptom that usually characterizes this disease is breathlessness or dyspnea which would be particularly noticed when the patient tries to exert himself/herself during the time of exercise etc. Mild, dry cough may accompany this condition, sometimes along with sputum. In the case of this particular condition, this cough would extend for a period longer than a month. As the disease develops, the patients may experience discomfort in the chest, unexpected weight loss, abnormal fatigue, and aches in muscles and joints. These patients might very easily be prone to repeated chest infections. Ultimately, the respiratory function declines with time eventually leading to respiratory failure.

The term “idiopathic” in the name -Idiopathic Pulmonary Disorder signifies that the exact cause of the disease has not yet been fully understood. This disorder has been observed to occur in families and also very sporadically. Different factors such as environmental, immunological and genetic factors are considered to play a role in the development of this condition. Earlier, it was thought that the disease had developed because of continuous inflammation in the lungs which further lead to extreme scarring. However, it is recently being experimented. The cause of the disease could actually be arising from damage to a particular set of cells which form the lining of the small airways and the alveoli, which are epithelial cells. The disease is thought to arise from abnormal repair process of these cells leading to gradual scarring and damage to lung tissue.