New drug may soon be available to CF patients

One of the biggest problems for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients is the excessive and often thick and even tenatious secretions that make breathing difficult and become breeding grounds for bacteria, which often leads to pneumonia.

However, if researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine are correct, Cystic
Fibrosis patients may soon have a new medicine available to them that is "supposed" to prevent the formation of mucus. According to WebMD, it might also delay the progression of CF.

The name of the medicine, in case your interested, is denufosol.

According to topnews.us, Dr. Frank Accurso, professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado, said the new medicine "helps enhance the hydration of the airways and can aid in clearing mucus. The drug is different from other cystic fibrosis medications which primarily treat the symptoms rather than the underlying causes."

This ultimately will help prevent mucus from "clogging" various organs such as the pancreas and especially the lungs. The drug would be taken three times daily. A study is presently ongoing in America.

This is significant because scientists believe the lungs of CP patients are normal at birth and damage occurs later in life, especially after progressive lung infections which are due to secretions.

As reported by WebMD, "the hope is that denufosol will delay or prevent the progressive changes that lead to irreversible airflow obstruction."

So perhaps some day soon CF patients will have an opportunity to discuss this new medicine with their physicians, and hopefully it will allow them to live a normal lifespan free of the complications CF causes its many victims.

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