Battling out cough could be embarrassing, imagine an individual coughing the whole day. Somewhat similar is the case of Diane Gwartney. This 72-year-old retired English Professor finds it awkward to cough the whole day long, and more than that it is difficult and hurting.

Consider the case of William Chambers, also went through a similar phase, suffered severe cough. This 62-year- old businessman has to set his schedule in a manner that in such a way that he need not speak much, instead he even avoided talking at the dinner table; it used to be upsetting.

For Mr. Chambers and Ms. Gwartney, their case was of persistent bronchitis, until before thorough testing notified that they are suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This deadly disease has been held responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people annually.

However, the new edge to this is the recent findings in a study carried out by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which have highlighted the role of thalidomide, although with infamous history, has been looked upon as a treatment for enhancing the lives led by these IPF patients, after a small trial.

The drug was introduced in 1950s by Gruenenthal and has been liked with birth-defects. The company made several headlines recently of apologizing to those affected.