Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: The current status of its epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment in China

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a type of intractable and rare disease, and its epidemiology in China is still unclear. The diagnosis and treatment of IPF has received considerable attention and two editions of guidelines on IPF diagnosis and treatment have been published by the Chinese Society of Respiratory Diseases. Treatment of IPF with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been widely investigated in China and several types of TCM extracts are reported to be effective in animal models. One effective treatment is lung transplantation; this treatment has been successfully performed in China, yielding satisfactory long-term survival.