07-03-2009, 11:34 AM
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Stranger
Stranger
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Key West Florida
Posts: 8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by angelsbandit
Winstonoboogie,
My father passed from Pulmonary Fibrosis, and he never smoked anything. They do not know what causes it, and smoking anything has not been confirmed to be a contributing factor:
What damages the lungs?
Hundreds of factors can cause the lung damage that eventually leads to pulmonary fibrosis. Some of the most common include: - Occupational and environmental factors. Long-term exposure to a number of toxins and pollutants can damage your lungs. Among them are silica dust (silicosis) and asbestos fibers (asbestosis). Chronic exposure to some organic substances, including grain dust, sugar cane, and bird and animal droppings, also can cause fibrosis.
- Radiation. A small percentage of people who receive radiation therapy for lung or breast cancer show signs of lung damage months or sometimes years after the initial treatment. The severity of the damage depends on how much of the lung is exposed to radiation, the total amount of radiation administered, whether chemotherapy also is used and the presence of underlying lung disease.
- Medications. Many drugs can damage your lungs, especially chemotherapy drugs (methotrexate, cyclophosphamide); medications used to treat heart arrhythmias and other cardiovascular problems (amiodarone, propranolol); certain psychiatric medications; and some antibiotics (nitrofurantoin, sulfasalazine).
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Acid reflux, which occurs when stomach acids back up into your food pipe (esophagus), appears to play a significant role in pulmonary fibrosis. Although people with pulmonary fibrosis frequently have GERD, they may not have typical GERD symptoms, such as heartburn and belching.
- Other medical conditions. Serious lung infections such as tuberculosis and pneumonia can cause permanent lung damage. So can disorders that affect tissue throughout your body, not just your lungs, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, Sjogren's syndrome and sarcoidosis. In rare cases, scleroderma is associated with a particularly severe form of pulmonary fibrosis.
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AngelsBandit,
I appreciate your reply, first my condolences on your father's passing; if I may ask, how old was your father when he died? Did he get it from any of those contributing factors that you mentioned?? I gone over and over thru my mind and I haven't been exposed to any of those other things you mentioned. I guess I'm feeling kinda guilty for smokin so much thru the years. I just figure that when I smoked I would hold it in my lungs for a longer period than say a cigarette smoker and being that there is no filter the smoke was probably harsher and the US government has been spraying paraquat thru the fields of Columbia , Mexico & Jamaica for years before indoor hydrponics became popular and accesible, I'm sure that may have contributed to the condition. Anything else you can share about it and what I & my family have to look forward to, I would appreciate you very much.
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