WITH September marking Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month, Ballajura woman 66-year-old Viola Bennett wants to raise awareness of the various lung conditions which cause irreversible scarring that can worsen over time.

For many, the symptoms creep in slowly - shortness of breath, a dry cough, fatigue - and are often mistaken for ageing or other conditions, but for Mrs Bennett the disease arrived unexpectedly.

She had no symptoms at all.

She discovered she had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) in 2020 after going in for an unrelated surgical procedure, where her doctor spotted lung scarring on a scan and ordered more tests. It was only then that she found out she had the disease.

“I didn’t have any of the usual symptoms like coughing and even now I only have a bit of breathlessness when walking long distances or walking up a hill – otherwise I had no idea I had the disease at all.”

Mrs Bennett is now part of a clinical trial at the Institute for Respiratory Health, Australia’s largest provider of lung disease clinical trials.

For the past year she’s been taking the trial drug BMS-986278 and later this month she’ll find out whether she has been on the active medication or a placebo. If she’s been on the real drug, she’ll have the option to stay on it for another year and possibly up to five years.

“Clinical trials offer hope not just to those of us involved but to the whole community,” Mrs Bennett said.

“They give us a chance to change the future of this disease. Even if I get the placebo my participation still counts. It helps doctors find out what works and what doesn’t and I am helping others with lung disease to hopefully find a cure one day.”

Institute associate professor Vidya Navaratnam said the clinical trials are key to better outcomes.

“Clinical trials are one of the most powerful tools we have to improve outcomes for people living with lung disease. The Institute is the largest provider of clinical trials for people with lung conditions in Australia.

To find out more about clinical trials for lung disease visit respclinicaltrials.org.au