Several types of fibrosis can develop, depending on what’s causing it.
Learn more about types of fibrosis, their causes, and risk factors.
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What Is Fibrosis?
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Lung
Pulmonary fibrosiscauses scarring within the lung tissue, often with no known cause.
There are several subtypes of pulmonary fibrosis.
Often, the cause of the fibrosis is not known.
Risk Factors
The actual cause of most fibrosis is not known or well understood.
The majority of fibrosis cases stems from unknown causes.
As fibrotic tissue accumulates, the organ or body system’s functions become impaired and eventually fail.
Disease-related fibrosis can occur from autoimmune disorders or GERD.
Exposure-related fibrosis can be acquired from exposure to cigarette smoke or hazardous chemicals such as asbestos.
Familial pulmonary fibrosis, or genetically inherited pulmonary fibrosis, which runs in families, is the rarest form.
Fibrosis itself is not curable.
For example,end-stage renal diseasecan cause kidney fibrosis.
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