LAM - Treatment - Treatment
A lung transplant is the only cure for LAM. Doctors may prescribe medicine or oxygen therapy to manage LAM symptoms.
Medicines
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LAM - Treatment
Your doctor may prescribe sirolimus to treat your symptoms or bronchodilators to help open up your airways.
- mTOR inhibitors, such as sirolimus, to help regulate the abnormal growth and movement of LAM cells. Sirolimus stabilizes lung function and improves quality of life, shrinks abnormal kidney and lymph node growths, and reduces abnormal fluid in the lungs. Sirolimus may cause side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, acne, high blood cholesterol, swelling of your mouth and lips, and fluid buildup in your legs. Sirolimus may also affect the function of your ovaries, liver, and kidneys and increase your risk of infections. If you have LAM, talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of sirolimus, and whether it is an option for you.
- Bronchodilators to relax the muscles around the airways if you are having trouble breathing or are wheezing. These medicines help the airways open up, making it easier for you to breathe.
The following medicines or procedures are not recommended to treat LAM:
- Doxycycline did not show a clinical benefit when used to treat LAM.
- Hormone therapies including certain medicines—progestins, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) such as tamoxifen—or surgical procedures such as removing one or both ovaries. While these therapies had previously been used to treat LAM, newer analyses suggest that they may not benefit all people who have LAM. If you are taking any of these hormone medicines or are considering a surgical procedure to remove your ovaries, talk to your doctor.
Living With will discuss medicines your doctor may prescribe to help prevent complications such as osteoporosis.
Oxygen therapy
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LAM - Treatment
Your doctor may recommend oxygen therapy to increase the amount of oxygen your lungs receive and deliver to your blood. At first, you may need oxygen only while exercising. It may also help to use it while sleeping. Eventually, you may need full-time oxygen therapy.
Lung transplant
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LAM - Treatment
Some patients who have severe lung damage due to advanced LAM may be eligible for a lung transplant. While lung transplants can improve lung function and quality of life for eligible patients, they have a high risk of complications, including infections and rejection of the transplanted lung by the body.
Look for
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LAM - Treatment
- Research for Your Health will discuss how we are using current research and advancing research to treat people who have LAM.
- Participate in NHLBI Clinical Trials will discuss our open and enrolling clinical studies that are investigating treatments for LAM.
- Living With will discuss what your doctor may recommend including life-long lifestyle changes and medical care to prevent your condition from getting worse or causing complications.