There are many other conditions where the cause of
pulmonary fibrosis is not known. The most common is
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF for short. IPF currently affects about 200,000 people in the United States. While this is a common cause of pulmonary fibrosis, the actual cause of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is not known. In fact, the medical term "idiopathic" means unknown.
There are other times when pulmonary fibrosis occurs for unknown reasons. This is the case in many conditions where pulmonary fibrosis is just one of the complications that can occur. For example, pulmonary fibrosis may develop in a limited number of people as a result of systemic sclerosis (which is a type of
scleroderma).
Pulmonary fibrosis may develop as a result of the following conditions:
- Collagen vascular diseases, such as:
With these conditions, it is not known why some people develop pulmonary fibrosis while others do not.
Previous
Add this article to your Favorites
Email this article
Print