At the ATS Public Advisory Roundtable “Meet the Expert” event, Sally McLaughlin, RN, MSN, (center) talks with attendees about pulmonary fibrosis issues.
People with lung diseases, critical illnesses and sleep disorders learned how to gain a better quality of life during the ATS Public Advisory Roundtable’s patient-friendly “Breathing Better with the ATS” and “Meet the Expert” events Saturday.
The “Meet the Expert” speakers were at the ready, with patients asking about how to get a test for Alpha-1 and its accuracy, insurance denial of prescription coverage, and the status of stems cells to grow lung tissue.
Prominent pulmonologists shared their expertise in sleep apnea, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome, lung cancer, children’s interstitial lung disease, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lymphangiomatosis and Gorham’s disease.
Jean Rommes didn’t let distance keep her from attending the “Breathing Better” forum. She arrived from West Des Moines, Iowa.
“I told my retina specialist I was going to the American Thoracic Society conference in San Francisco. He said, ‘That’s a professional medical association. Why are you going?’ I said, ‘Because they want people like me there. They’re interested in patients,” said Rommes, who is active in her support group, COPD EFFORTS (Emphysema Foundation For Our Right To Survive).
Speakers focused on issues related to quality of life, lung transplant, oxygen needs and end-of-life care. Sally McLaughlin, RN, MSN, interstitial lung disease nurse at the University of California, San Francisco, discussed three important interventions for chronic lung disease: pulmonary rehabilitation, good nutrition and support groups.
“I wanted the audience to take home hope from all the talks. There are lots of things out there that they can do to help maintain control of their symptoms and of their lives to help maintain a good quality of life despite having a chronic lung disease,” McLaughlin said.
Steve Hays, MD, associate professor medicine and medical director of lung transplantation at the University of California, San Francisco, said there are a lot of misconceptions about lung transplantation.
“There are many in the community who still don’t know that lung transplant is a viable option as a treatment for advanced lung disease,” said Dr. Hays, adding that he sought to answer the more common questions that patients ask him about lung transplantation and debunk some of the myths.
Paul Wolters, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, described the biology of oxygen, how the body uses it and what happens when the body doesn’t get enough oxygen.
“Our work is dedicated to developing treatments for lungs disease, and I find it rewarding to share this information directly with patients. After these sessions with patients, I typically feel I get more out of them than they get from me,” Dr. Wolters said.