Cystic Fibrosis

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deal with constant medication each and every day of their lives. A common medication used by victims of cystic fibrosis is a bronchodilator, a drug used to increase the area space of the bronchial muscles, thus increasing air passages in the lungs and making breathing easier to perform. Other medications include mucus thinners, which cause the mucus in the body to become more liquidy and fluid, and antibiotics, which neutralize bacteria that infect the lungs. Antibiotics are essential to patients dealing with cystic fibrosis and must be taken daily. An additional priority required for those dealing with cystic fibrosis are yearly hospital sessions, where one must take IV antibiotic sessions to clean out bacteria that are infesting the lungs. Furthermore, another challenge people must face is dealing with the use of nebulizers, a machine used to produce a fine spray of liquid medicinal drugs that can be easily inhaled. A person suffering from cystic fibrosis will have two daily nebulizer sessions, a morning session and a night session. During these ten to fifteen minute sessions, he or she will inhale various medicinal drugs, such as the aforementioned bronchodilator, mucus thinner, antibiotics, and more. Another challenge a person with cystic fibrosis must deal with are physical therapy sessions, which consist of chest maneuvers that are aimed towards relieving pain caused by mucus congestion in the lungs. In addition to this physical therapy regimen, he or she must maintain a strict diet that is high in calories and fat as well as being very vigilant in keeping healthy, so that he or she can minimize the risk of catching an infection.

As of this moment, there is no cure that will eradicate cystic fibrosis from the body. But, there are many options that will contain the disease to its minimum effect. The many goals of these treatments include loosening thick mucus in the lungs, stopping intestinal blockage, controlling bacterial lung infections, receiving nutritional care, and preventing dehydration. Many people with cystic fibrosis differ in the extremity and the severity of their lifelong condition. People with moderate-severe cystic fibrosis may be treated for their conditions in hospitals. Others can treat their condition single handedly by following their doctor’s instructions. In the United States of America, there hundreds of cystic fibrosis care centers. These centers provide patients with professional doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and dieticians that are all trained to treat this specific disease. Other people who suffer with cystic fibrosis can see a cystic fibrosis specialist. In treatment for lung problems, there are 3 main plans of action for a patient struggling to cope with the hardships of cystic fibrosis. They are chest physical therapy, exercise, and medicines. In chest physical therapy, the chest of a patient will be pounded with a caretakers hands or a device. This will loosen up mucus and allow the patient to cough it up. Aerobic exercise also loosens mucus in the airways, but lots of salt will be lost from the body. So, patients that exercise for treatment are put on a high-salt diet. There are four main types of medications for cystic fibrosis. They are antibiotics, bronchodilators, anti inflammatory medications, and mucus clearing medications. Antibiotics are best for the use as a preventer of lung infections and they heal these infections as well. The other medicines open your airways, sooth your lung and throat muscles, and loosen the thick mucus brought on by the disease. For digestive problems, doctors will instruct their patients to take supplements and enzymes that they are deprived of. Also, patients may have to undergo surgery to remove intestinal blockage. In some cases, patients will have to use a feeding tube during the night as they sleep. The food may be transported through a surgically made hole into the stomach. Also complications created by cystic fibrosis need to be treated. The most occurring conditions with the disease is diabetes and osteoporosis.

All over the world biotech companies and drug manufacturers continue to develop new drugs and treatments that weaken the effects of cystic fibrosis. Anti-infective drugs such as azithromycin and tobramycin help the lungs fight of infection. Pulmozyme, a drug that takes thick mucus and loosens it, has gone past stage 4 and it has been helping patients worldwide. Kalydeco is a drug that was made to fix the incorrect protein caused by cystic fibrosis. It helps salt move in and out of the cells properly, saving people from the loss of large amounts of salt. A developing enzyme, liprotamase, has the potential ability to supply a patient with great digestive functions. The drug is in stage 3 and has only showed improvements in test results. Many of these drugs undergo re-evaluations to be improved upon. No cure for cystic fibrosis is seen in the near future, but many treatments are able to minimize the effects.

The life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis has gradually increased in recent years dating back to the 1980’s, when the life expectancy was a mere 14 years of age. However, a few years after the turn of the century, about 10 years back, the life expectancy increased to 18 years. Today, it has grown even further to now 35 years of age as medicine has become more advanced.