Pulmonary Fibrosis Treatment Centers

Pulmonary fibrosis can be tough to live with. It is a disease that affects the way you breathe, which may make it feel difficult to manage. The disease is typified by damaged or scarred lung tissue, which then hardens or becomes stiff. This means that it is harder for oxygen to enter your bloodstream from the lungs.

Although severity can differ from person to person, it is important for everyone with PF to get appropriate care from a facility that they can trust. Pulmonary fibrosis treatment centers exist globally and your doctor or physician should be able to point you in the direction of one. They may also recommend you to a pulmonologist – a doctor who specializes in lung care.

Pulmonary Fibrosis Treatment Centers

So what do these specialist facilities do? To take the University of Chicago Pulmonary Clinic (UCPC) as an example, the facility recognizes that ‘these disorders need a high level of expertise.’ This is why the clinic is staffed with a ‘highly specialized team of physicians who are experts in ILDs’ (Interstitial Lung Disease – pulmonary fibrosis is a type of this disease). In addition, the UCPC makes use of ‘state-of-the-art’ diagnostics, which are necessary for an accurate diagnosis of an ILD. Once a diagnosis is made, the clinic will keep your primary care physician up to date on your treatment, which means that your doctor close to home can better help you in a respiratory emergency. The clinic has ‘one of the premier lung transplant programs in the region’, meaning that should a transplant be required, patients would not need to be transferred. Finally, because of the research being conducted at the clinic, it is ‘often’ able to provide medications before they are widely available at other medical centers. This is an example of one clinic, but it suggests what defines other, similar pulmonary fibrosis treatment centers – extensive knowledge of the disease and experts in the field. More information on UCPC can be found by clicking here.

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) has identified specialist pulmonary fibrosis medical centers around the world based on the work it has done with leading medical centers in the US to improve patient care. Such centers have specific expertise in the treatment of PF. PFF’s list identifies medical centers and support groups that are available in North America and Europe from Mexico to the Netherlands. View the list by clicking here.

The PFF also runs dedicated care network sites, which enrol patients in the PFF Patient Registry. These span all across the US and includes University medical school departments such as the University of Chicago Pulmonary Clinic and the University of Califonia, San Francisco (UCSF) Interstitial Lung Disease Program.

Featured image: Depositphotos / Poznyakov