Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a broad term for more than 200 conditions that affect the tissue in and around the lungs’ tiny air sacs.

ILDs may cause:

• Inflammation
• Scarring
• Cysts
• Material to collect inside the air sacs
• A combination of these changes

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) means there is scarring, or fibrosis, in the lungs. It is a type or feature of some ILDs, but not every ILD causes pulmonary fibrosis.

The relationship can be understood this way:

• ILD is the broad group of lung diseases.
• Pulmonary fibrosis is lung scarring that can occur in some ILDs.
• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a specific type of pulmonary fibrosis with no known cause.

Scar tissue makes the lungs thick and stiff. This makes it harder for the lungs to fully expand and for oxygen to move into the blood. For this reason, many ILDs are described as restrictive lung diseases.

How Common Is Pulmonary Fibrosis?

An estimated 30,000 people in Canada are living with pulmonary fibrosis. Approximately half are believed to have IPF.

IPF is one of the most common types of ILD and the most common type of pulmonary fibrosis. It is more common in people over age 50 and occurs more often in men.

To learn more, visit our Lung Health Materials to download the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)handbook.