A new clinic at Marshall Health is helping patients with chronic interstitial lung disease improve quality of life, minimize additional damage and reduce symptoms.
Chronic, or advanced, lung disease affects more than 650,000 Americans, according to the Global Health Data Exchange. Led by Pulmonologists Amro Al-Astal, M.D., F.C.C.P., and Mohammed Megri, M.D., the Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Clinic at Marshall Health provides multidisciplinary care and treatment for patients with more than 300 different types of lung diseases that result in the progressive scarring of lung tissue. Symptoms may range from shortness of breath, persistent cough, fatigue or chest discomfort.
Although lung scarring cannot be reversed, the ILD Clinic integrates various medications, treatments and therapies to slow the progression of the disease and improve lung function.
“The care that patients receive in the ILD clinic will improve the early recognition of the disease, prevent progression and improve outcomes,” said Megri, an assistant professor of medicine at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “If, however, a patient’s ILD continues to progress or treatment is no longer effective, we are equipped to facilitate the option of a lung transplant.”
The clinic also takes an integrated approach to care, leveraging the expertise of Marshal Health’s pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine team with radiologists, interventional pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, rheumatologists, pathologists and clinical pharmacists as needed to ensure patients receive a comprehensive, personalized treatment plan.
The clinic is located at Marshall Internal Medicine inside the Erma Ora Byrd Clinical Center at 1249 15th Street in Huntington. Patients are seen by referral from another provider or may contact the clinic for a second opinion.
To learn more about the clinic or interstitial lung disease visit marshallhealth.org/ILD or call Marshall Internal Medicine at 304-691-1006. For news and information about Marshall Health, follow us on Twitter @Marshall_Health, like us on Facebook or visit marshallhealth.org.