What is Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF)?
PF is defined as a progressive and ultimately fatal scarring process in the lungs of unknown cause. The terms IPF and pulmonary fibrosis (PF) are used interchangeably when describing this disease. v The median survival rate is just three years; more than 2/3 of patients will die within five years v There is no known cause, no FDA-approved treatments and no cure for PF. This is why the PF act of 2008 is critically important to our members, and our researchersv The disease affects 128,000 Americans; alarmingly, prevalence has increased 156 percent since 2001.( 1)v An estimated 40,000 people die each year from PF – the same number that die annually from breast cancer – and more than 48,000 new cases are diagnosed each yearv PF can strike anyone, but the disease tends to affect men more than women and usually strikes people between the ages of 50 and 70. v PF is four times more common than cystic fibrosis, yet it remains virtually unknown to the public, many policymakers, and even most phy
