Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Treatment

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There is currently no cure for IPF. You may need medicines, pulmonary rehabilitation, procedures, or other treatments to slow down lung damage and help improve your quality of life.

Medicines

You may need the following medicines:

• Nintedanib or pirfenidone can help your lungs work better. They may also help to prevent an acute exacerbation, which is an unexpected and sudden worsening of symptoms over a period of days or weeks, and may prolong survival.
• Antacids may help prevent stomach acid from getting into the lungs from reflux, making IPF worse.

Other treatments

You may need other treatments to treat IPF, including:

• Oxygen therapy to decrease shortness of breath and improve the ability to exercise
• Ventilator support to help with breathing

Surgery

A lung transplant may be an option for some people who have serious IPF. The major complications of a lung transplant are infection and rejection of the new organ by the body. You will have to take medicines for the rest of your life to reduce the risk of rejection following a lung transplant.