Scleroderma Lung Disease (part 2 of 2)

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Intersitial Lung Disease And Pulmonary Hypertension

Scarring and inflammation of the lungs is called interstitial lung disease or ILD. This can be suspected when the doctor would hear a crackling sound while examining with a stethoscope but is properly diagnosed when the lungs are tested by complete pulmonary function testing. After that, the amount of inflammation of the lungs will be measure by either a chest x-ray or a CT scan. Other processes that can be done are lung biopsy and HRCT

Pulmonary hypertension is brought about by the scarring of the lungs. Since blood vessels are attacked, blood flow to the lungs is limited causing the function of the lungs to be limited too. This in turn can also cause shortness of breath. Pulmonary hypertension is a completely different illness and should treatment for it should be different.

Treatment

Since all cases of scleroderma have no known treatment yet, there is also no known cure for it, although it can still be managed. Treatment for hypertension is more focused on preventing further damage and on attempting to restore organ function to normal, although this is considerably difficult. Treatment for lung involvement in scleroderma would include medications, therapies and surgeries.

While it can be treated with medical attention, it is still very important that the patient should also handle the case responsibly on his or her own. Some things that can be done to help are to stop smoking or to avoid passive smoke if you are not a smoker. Not only can smoke worsen a condition of lung involvement in scleroderma but it can also bring about a lot of different illnesses as well. It would also help if the patient keeps a healthy lifestyle.