After several cases related to the pandemic, there has been an increase in lung fibrosis. There has been an instance where an intensive care doctor and pulmonologist enables people have been helping people to move away from lung fibrosis. It has helped them regain normal breathing and lead a better life.
Often, people think the vaccine can help reduce the vast after-effects of the novel coronavirus. That is far from the truth! The vaccine might lessen the suffering and a few physical symptoms after the virus attack, but it can’t altogether remove the harsh effects of the virus on a weak immune system. Many people have been averting it, thinking it might cost them their freedom. According to a recent poll by MyBioSource, 36% of people in Alaska feel the vaccine will not cost anyone’s freedom.
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Understanding lung fibrosis
It simply refers to lung scarring, that is, inflammation. A few of the symptoms of lung fibrosis include:
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
Is it possible to detect lung fibrosis with an X-ray? Yes, but even then, the doctors suggest high-end CAT or CT scans.
Is it possible for lung fibrosis to spread?
Lung fibrosis can develop in the following ways:
- All at one go, owing to an illness, such as COVID-19 and pneumonia
- Over a period, owing to a blend of environmental factors, such as cigarette smoke and pollution
- If the fibrosis occurs because of COVID-19, it is possible for the scarring to happen for a long time and get resolved slowly.
- When the ongoing problem is the cause, for instance, smoking, it can worsen the scarring to a considerable extent.
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Understanding the post-COVID fibrosis?
The long COVID-19 gets outlined by the current and new symptoms, which usually persist for a month after the initial coronavirus infection. And one of the probable outcomes of the virus infection is post-COVID fibrosis, which gets detected in lung imaging through a CT scan.
A few long COVID patients come with obvious symptoms, such as shortness of breath, which still appear normal. This symptom gets noticed subtly on the CT scan, and sometimes the irregularities aren’t seen. You can sometimes identify the abnormalities by opting for a lung function test. And it can get highly frustrating for the patients. A disease hidden deep within the lungs may not get reflected in a standard CT scan.
Simply put, pulmonary fibrosis is one broad term. There are usually two categories that people fall into:
Some people require intensive care and witness extreme ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), generally suffering from severe lung dysfunction. Usually, COVID-19 survivors tend to have persistent abnormalities in the lung imaging after a span of 6 months to one year of their infection. Few have constant lung dysfunction, which gets highlighted in the pulmonary function testing. Others need oxygen for over a year and more right after the illness. And this is not progressive fibrosis.
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Less-severe COVID-19 leads to airway damage
Several patients suffered from the pandemic, which is not necessarily a severe case. They also witness persistent cough and breath shortness. And this lung fibrosis gets located in the small airways and blood vessels and is challenging to detect.
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Can you reverse the COVID lung fibrosis?
Several people‘s symptoms of lung fibrosis get to improve to the baseline. But that is not the case with all. According to the University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers, today, the medical community has started using lung imaging and extensive testing to study the long-COVID symptoms, usually unexplained breathlessness.
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Can you cure lung fibrosis? How should you treat it?
The treatment depends on the fact that the damage has occurred in the lung airways or tissue. Here you need to consider two scenarios:
- Lung tissue damage – is usually prolonged after the effects of the steroids for about three months. And for other patients, the doctors might provide pulmonary rehab and oxygen. All things will improve with time gradually.
- The damage in the lung airway –People who witness problems in the smaller airways get treated using bronchodilators and steroids to enhance lung airflow. The treatment is much like asthma. An inhaler can enhance bronchodilation.
Finally, new drugs, known as anti-fibrotic agents, can reduce the growth of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Today, more scientists have been researching this. And no one knows whether these agents help or not in the long run, but there is hope. And while in certain patients, there might be lung fibrosis for a while; it has been shown to get better than moving toward the end-stage lung ailments. In case of any queries, get in touch with your doctor today!
