Interstitial Lung Disease

The BETTER-B study, recently presented at ERS and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, provided new insights into the management of severe breathlessness in patients with chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD and Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD).  Severe breathlessness is a debilitating symptom that significantly impacts the quality of life for millions of people worldwide, yet there are currently no licensed medications to effectively address it outside of Australia. Given the clinical challenges and limited treatment options, clinicians often resort to off-label use of medications like mirtazapine, a widely prescribed antidepressant that appeared promising. Despite its initial promise, the study found that doses ranging from 15 to 45 mg of mirtazapine failed to provide significant relief compared to a placebo. Additionally, the findings highlighted potential adverse effects and increased healthcare costs associated with its use. 

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious chronic lung disease which results in symptoms such as shortness of breath and dry cough and is caused by fibrosis of the lungs. It was a pleasure to talk with Dr. Steven D. Nathan (Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA) to discuss the incidence, prognosis and pathology of […]

The TETON program consists of two currently recruiting phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that are investigating the efficacy and safety of inhaled treprostinil in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (NCT04708782, NCT05255991). It was a pleasure to talk with Dr. Steven D. Nathan (Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA) around the aims and design of the TETON program […]

INCREASE OLE was the open-label extension of the INCREASE study (NCT02630316), which investigated the safety and efficacy of inhaled treprostinil in patients with pulmonary hypertension due to interstitial lung disease. We caught up with Prof. Jean Elwing (UC Health, Cincinnati, OH, USA) to discuss the methodology, inclusion criteria, and safety and tolerability findings from the […]

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) Registry is collecting data from patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) or interstitial lung disease (ILD), lung transplant recipients who have had PF or ILD as well as caregivers and family members of patients to help advance medical research. It was a pleasure to talk with PFF Vice President, Junelle Speller […]

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) Registry is collecting data from patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) or interstitial lung disease (ILD), lung transplant recipients who have had PF or ILD as well as caregivers and family members of patients to help advance medical research. touchRESPIRATORY were delighted to talk to PFF Vice President, Junelle Speller around […]