The Importance of Clinical Trials in Pulmonary Fibrosis Research
Clinical trials play a key role in advancing treatments for respiratory disease such as pulmonary fibrosis. They are an important step for transforming the lives of those affected by creating new treatments to ease symptoms. Specifically, as this disease does not yet have a cure.
Simbec Orion has 50 years of experience managing clinical trials, from phase 1 through to the full lifecycle, alongside expert technology to be a leader in the field. We explore in this article why clinical trials are important for pulmonary fibrosis research and treatment development, alongside how the public increases awareness throughout the month.
What is Pulmonary Fibrosis?
Pulmonary Fibrosis is a serious lung disease which causes scarring of the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Alongside scarring, the disease also causes tissue thickening around the alveoli (air sacks), which contributes to difficulty breathing. Over time, the tissue scarring can get worse, reducing the oxygen exchange in the body which can exacerbate symptoms.
Symptoms of Pulmonary Fibrosis
Pulmonary Fibrosis presents many symptoms relating to the respiratory system but can also present itself in other ways due to lack of oxygen in the bloodstream. These include:
- Noticeable Shortness of Breath
- A persistent cough
- Unexplained weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Fatigue/ tiredness
- Swollen fingertips
These symptoms will often start off small and worsen over time. It is important to remember that some of these symptoms could have many reasons, so it is important to check with your GP.
Shortness of breath is present during both physical activity and everyday tasks. If you notice a change during general activities – this shouldn’t be overlooked.
Causes and Treatments for Pulmonary Fibrosis
There are some known causes of pulmonary fibrosis, however there can sometimes be no explanation or root cause. However, some case can be triggered by the following:
- Environmental exposures: Mold, air pollution or cigarette smoke
- Job type: those who have dealt with asbestos or chemical fumes
- Other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases: Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and sarcoidosis
- Treatments or Medicine: Certain medications can cause this or radiation therapy close to the chest or lungs.
- Genetics or family history: You can be more susceptible to pulmonary fibrosis if it runs in the family.
There is currently no cure for pulmonary fibrosis but there are treatments that can slow progression and increase quality of life. These include:
- Medication to reduce inflammation and scarring
- Oxygen therapy when levels are low
- Exercise and breathing programmes to improve lung quality
- Lifestyle changes including diet and exercise
- For severe cases, a lung transplant
Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month 2025
Pulmonary Fibrosis awareness month is celebrated in September each year. It is a global campaign that is used to spread awareness and raise funds for life changing treatments, or encourage people to get checked for the disease. Often, incurable diseases can be hard to diagnose or can cross over the symptoms of other diseases, that people may often overlook. For example, someone experiencing a shortness of breath may think they are simply out of shape.
How to Get Involved in Pulmonary Awareness Month
There are many ways you can get involves in Pulmonary Awareness month, including fundraising, one-time donation, sponsored walk or sharing your story via social media. Previous campaigns have been to wear a specific colour or raising awareness by changing a landmark or buildings light up colour.
With so many ways to get involved, you can do your part to spread awareness.
Clinical Trials & Scintigraphy For Pulmonary Fibrosis
Clinical Trials are important to advance research for treatments for Pulmonary Fibrosis. Research and developing new drugs, it gives patients access to new cutting edge medication that isn’t widely available to test and trial. This can be revolutionary for patients who are not seeing progress with their current treatment plans and give them hope alongside a new quality of life. Even reduction of shortness of breath doing daily activities can change the day-to-day life of someone with pulmonary fibrosis.
Alongside drug development, with incurable lung disease, oxygen therapies are also a crucial part of advancing treatment for the disease. Clinical trials allow close monitoring of patients to see how new treatments are working, allowing patients to access more frequent check-ups.
Scintigraphy
Utilising Scintigraphy technology can help progress research of pulmonary fibrosis. It is a clear lung imaging technique which can track lung function and blood flow. By having this knowledge, it gives a clear indicator of how advancements are working or simply giving researchers more visibility on how the disease is affecting patients.
Clinical Trials at Simbec-Orion
Here at Simbec-Orion, we are a specialist CRO company – who help with the full-lifecycle management of clinical trials from Phase I through to Phase 3.
With nearly 50 years of experience in CRO services, we collaborate with clients on a global scale to effectively manage their clinical trials, being a crucial extension to the team. For more information on our services, please contact us today.