We hope this booklet will be informative and will help answer your questions about the disease you have. The name which is used to classify the type of lung disease you have is interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. There are several diseases in which the end result of the disease process is scarring of the lungs, or interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. The diseases which fit this description are numerous and we have chosen only a few to describe in detail in this booklet. In all of the diseases characterized by interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, inflammation is the initial event which occurs in the lung.
Inflammation is simply a collection of white blood cells.
In an infection, the white blood cells kill bacteria by powerful substances they possess. In this manner, the body is helped by inflammation. However, white blood cells can, in some instances, damage normal tissue also, and this then results in fibrosis or scarring. Also, a disease called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an allergic disorder, may also cause lung scarring. Some disorders are idiopathic, meaning there is no easily identifiable cause for the disease.