E: What are the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis?

Early symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis can be hard to spot because cough and breathlessness are common issues. If a cough lasts more than six weeks or you experience unexplained shortness of breath, it is important to get checked by a doctor, although these symptoms are often caused by other conditions. Assessment is especially important if you have a family history of pulmonary fibrosis.

 

🎥 Watch the Video: What are the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis?

 

 

Professor Porter discusses the following:

• What are the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis?
• Should you see your doctor if you’ve had a cough for over 6 weeks?
• Should you expect to get short of breath when you get older?
• Further reading – Is pulmonary fibrosis genetic?

 

Full Video Transcript

This is a really difficult question to answer because many of the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis are very non-specific – cough, shortness of breath. But what I would say is, if you have a cough that’s been going on for more than six weeks, you should definitely see your doctor whatever age you are – it probably isn’t pulmonary fibrosis, but it should be investigated.

If you are getting short of breath. Be very, very careful before you attribute this to increasing age. I think many people think they expect to be short of breath as they get older, but actually that’s not really true. So, if you’re short of breath, go and see your doctor. Get yourself checked out. It’s likely to be something other than pulmonary fibrosis, but it might be pulmonary fibrosis.

And this is particularly important if you know that you have a family history of pulmonary fibrosis, or you have a first degree relative with pulmonary fibrosis, by which I mean a parent or a sibling.

 

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[Video published December 2025]