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Discussions
360Coach Brandon Check-In 08/04/2025
🌍 Today is World NTM Awareness Day! 💙
Here in our Bronchiectasis and NTM 360social community, every day is about lifting each other up, sharing our journeys, and advocating for better care. But today, we shine an even brighter light on NTM lung disease--because awareness can lead to earlier diagnosis, better treatment, and stronger support.
✅ Did you know?
🔹 Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease is on the rise, especially in older adults and those with chronic lung conditions like bronchiectasis.
🔹 An estimated 86,000+ people in the U.S. are living with NTM lung disease--and many more may go undiagnosed.
🔹 People with bronchiectasis are 37 times more likely to develop NTM than the general population.
🔹 Yet despite this, awareness remains low--and that’s something we’re working hard to change!
Whether you’re living with NTM, supporting someone who is, or simply lending your voice--you’re helping drive change. Let’s keep raising awareness, asking questions, sharing stories, and pushing for a better future.
💬Drop a comment to tell us how you're marking the day or give a shoutout to someone who inspires you!
Here’s to all of us--standing strong, breathing better, and making our voices heard. 💛
Replies
We have come along way over the past decade with increasing awareness on NTM! We still have a way to go- any contribution in increasing awareness is greatly appreciated.
I am wearing my NTM tee shirt today:).
There are times I wish I was blissfully ignorant about NTMs, but that wasn't my fate. Since 2019 four different NTMs have appeared in sputum samples, m. fortuitum, m. aquaticum, and MAC and MAI. Only the extremely rare aquaticum wasn't treated, in part due to the lack of clinical data. Hopefully in the near future there will be treatment options other than antibiotics, such as phage therapy, and medications that interfere with biofilms or quorum sensing, how bugs communicate with each other, which is key to developing resistance to antibiotics. Happy awareness day!
I am hoping and praying 🙏🏽 for similar wishes!! We desperately need other treatments than long term antibiotics. Happy NTM Awareness Day back to you!
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