RESEARCH NEWS

Researchers reveal that the combination of computed tomography (CT) imaging and pulmonary function testing (PFT), when combined into a composite score, offers a more sensitive way of evaluating treatment in young patients with CF. In the study, child CF patients with little or no loss of lung function were scored using CT/PFT technology. Findings suggest several advantages of using the CT/PFT score when conducting clinical trials.

Source: “Cystic Fibrosis: Researchers develop new method of determining treatment effects.” http://www.esiason.org/news1.html
Further Info: http://www.ehendrick.com/healthy/002154.htm, http://www.radiologyinfo.com/content/ct_of_the_body.htm

The FDA has approved a small, silent electronic aerosol drug delivery device produced by PARI. The device is for patients with CF and other chronic lung diseases. At the core of the equipment is a stainless steel membrane containing 4,000 laser-drilled holes. This cordless device was designed to reduce the need for time-consuming nebulized drugs, and can deliver medication in a matter of three to five minutes depending on volume.

Source: “eFlow Delivers Aerosol Drugs.” Membrane & Separation Technology News. July 2004.
Further Info: http://www.pari.com

A recent study found that CF patients may produce too little mucus as opposed to too much. Doctors have blamed excess mucus for the deadly infections many CF patients suffer from. Now, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center think the problem is the opposite. Doctors suggest that the substance that clogs the lungs is actually pus, not mucus. Dr. Bruce Rubin pinpoints that mucus itself is not the enemy, rather the fact that it is simply not getting out of the cells into the airways, where it would assist in the removal of harmful bacteria if released. CF patients tested had considerably lower amounts of the two major proteins that form mucus, MUC5AC and MUC5B.

Source: http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/519864/main.html

Further Info: http://www.topix.net/health/cystic-fibrosis

Medical Discoveries, Inc. (MDI), a biopharmaceutical company, filed a patent application for MDI-P for treating CF. Findings from a recent study using mice was a main factor in the filing. Asthmatic mice were inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium often found to reduce lung function in CF patients. MDI notes that infection from Pseudomonas aeruginosa adds to lung inflammation and injury, which can lead to problems with other organs, including the pancreas. MDI’s CEO hopes that the new drug will help CF patients gain continued lung function.

Source: “Patent application filed for potential cystic fibrosis treatment”
From Heart Disease Weekly, June 27, 2004, http://www.esiason.org/article.php

Further Info: http://www.medicaldiscoveries.com, http://www.americanheart.org