The average age of diagnosis is 58 years, and 92 percent of those with the disease are Caucasian, Schwartz said. Cigarette smoking was involved in half of the subjects with the disease, and exposure to environmental contaminants such as silica, asbestos or dust, primarily in the workplace, was reported by almost one quarter of those with the disease. The average age at diagnosis was 58 years and the average age of death was four years later. The prognosis for these people is really poor. The findings were presented Friday at the International Congress of Human Genetics in Vienna, Austria.
Pulmonary fibrosis occurs when the thin layer of tissue around the lung's alveoli are damaged.
Alveoli are air sacs where gases are exchanged with blood. When this layer is damaged, it results in scar tissue, which limits the lungs' ability to convert oxygen and rid the body of carbon dioxide. Schwartz said as many as 50,000 to 100,000 cases of the disease are diagnosed each year, of which 10 percent in families where another member has had the disease. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.