information reconfirmed; this is a good article, though

[Guest guest]

via n Rojas

NEW YORK - Researchers at the University of New Mexico report that overly

acidic lungs may be one reason why patients with cystic fibrosis are prone to

bacterial infections. If this is true, the scientists suggest, it may be

possible

to treat these patients with some sort of antacid.In cystic fibrosis, a

mutated gene causes the body to produce an abnormally thick, sticky mucus that

accumulates in the lungs and intestines. People with cystic fibrosis develop

chronic lung infections and have trouble absorbing nutrients from food. About

half

of people with cystic fibrosis live beyond age 20, while only about

one-quarter live past the age of 35.In the November 20th issue of the

Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Vojo Deretic and colleagues published the

results of laboratory experiments that suggest that the gene defect known to

cause cystic fibrosis also causes the lining of the lungs to be acidic. So far,

the researchers have only examined cells grown in test tubes.``Our findings

indicate that, in cystic fibrosis, excess acid in parts of the respiratory cells

may be at the root of the problem,'' Deretic said.Neutralizing the pH of the

lining of the lungs may slow or prevent bacterial infections and improve

quality of life for cystic fibrosis patients, Deretic explained in an

interview.``If our findings show potential in clinical studies--that

neutralizing excess

acid would prevent or slow down the infections and inflammation in the cystic

fibrosis lung, or improve the quality of life of cystic fibrosis patients--then

we may be looking at some rather simple treatments that would also not cost

much,'' he stated.Deretic believes it may be easy to alter the pH of lung cells.

``It's been done in the stomach on a daily basis by millions taking

antacids,'' he noted.Cystic fibrosis patients would ``probably have to use an

inhaler,'' similar to the devices asthmatics use, to deliver an

acid-neutralizing drug

to their lungs, he pointed out.``This is relatively easy and within reach,

compared to high-tech futuristic approaches such as gene therapy,'' Deretic

added. ``Let us hope that we may have a new and potentially simple way of

improving

the quality of life for cystic fibrosis patients.''SOURCE: Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences 2001;98:13972-

SEARCH:

Archives

Google

<A

HREF= " http://www.hellolincoln.com/vnews/display.v?TARGET=archive & function=search\

_form_advanced " >Advanced Archive Search</A>

MORE HEADLINES

<A

HREF= " http://www.hellolincoln.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/05/30/3cf6e03bd26d2 " >\

Communicating With Your Doctor</A>

<A

HREF= " http://www.hellolincoln.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/04/04/3cace6aa6e3f8 " >\

Doctor's Guide</A>

<A

HREF= " http://www.hellolincoln.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/03/28/3ca31cebae6ae " >\

MayoClinic.com</A>

<A

HREF= " http://www.hellolincoln.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/03/23/3c9c9596bc70f " >\

Doctor's Guide</A>

I liked this article; I hope that you do, as well,

n Rojas

[Guest guest]

--- People with cystic fibrosis develop

> chronic lung infections and have trouble absorbing nutrients from

food. About half

> of people with cystic fibrosis live beyond age 20, while only about

> one-quarter live past the age of 35.>

>

Aren't these stats a little old? I thought that average age in 2002

was 32. (I hope I hope I hope)

jan

[Guest guest]

I thought the stats were outdated too, but I don't know from which

country they were calculated.

The most recent Canadian stat for MEDIAN age of survival is 35.9 years (

a little less for females, a little more for males). This was just

announced this year, based on data from the Canadian Patient Data

Registry for the five years ending in 2001.

Median means it is a calculation of the age of which half of the

Canadian CF population can be expected to survive. In other words, there

is a 50 per cent chance of living beyond 35.9 years.

M

najnest wrote:

>...

> Aren't these stats a little old? I thought that average age in 2002

>was 32. (I hope I hope I hope)

>