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HEALTHY
How cystic fibrosis affects the lungs
cystic fibrosis is often thought of as a ‘ lung disease ’ owing to a solicitation of respiratory symptoms that manifest in people with the condition. In reality, CF affects many parts of the torso. The faulty gene that causes CF is creditworthy for transporting water into and out of cells, including lung cells, so in people with the condition this enchant does not happen efficaciously, resulting in many of the symptoms described below .
In goodly lungs, there is a thin layer of mucus that helps your body move crap and bacteria out of the lungs. In people with CF, this mucus is much blockheaded and clogs the lungs, creating the perfective environment for harmful bacteria .
This means that people with the condition feel persistent cough or asthmatic, and produce thick, stickier mucus ( phlegm ). There is besides a miss of airline surface liquid ( ASL ), sol headroom of these awkward secretions is less effective. As lung disease progresses and chronic airline infection becomes established, there is an addition in the volume of phlegm produced .
People with CF may besides have restricted lung function due to the thicken of the walls of the airways, narrowing of the lumens ( the space inside the airways ), damage to the airways and obstruction of the airways with mucus.
In goodly lungs, there is a thin layer of mucus that helps your body move crap and bacteria out of the lungs. In people with CF, this mucus is much blockheaded and clogs the lungs, creating the perfective environment for harmful bacteria .
This means that people with the condition feel persistent cough or asthmatic, and produce thick, stickier mucus ( phlegm ). There is besides a miss of airline surface liquid ( ASL ), sol headroom of these awkward secretions is less effective. As lung disease progresses and chronic airline infection becomes established, there is an addition in the volume of phlegm produced .
People with CF may besides have restricted lung function due to the thicken of the walls of the airways, narrowing of the lumens ( the space inside the airways ), damage to the airways and obstruction of the airways with mucus.
Lung infections
People with CF besides suffer from frequent lung infections. The symptoms of a lung infection can include increase cough and wheeze, getting out of breath more easily and the production of more phlegm. These infections are so serious that it is common for people with CF to spend weeks in hospital several times a year for intravenous antibiotic treatment and monitor. infection can cause the lung serve of person with CF to drop to far lower than that expected in person with fully functioning lungs.
Take a look at our page on cystic fibrosis bugs, which is entire of information about some of the most common CF bugs like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium abscessus, Burkholderia cepacia complex and Aspergillus fumigatus, and the research we are funding to combat these infections.
Lung transplant
For many people with cystic fibrosis, a double-lung graft becomes the lone choice when existing treatments stop having an affect. This is an operation that comes with a issue of risks, and whether person decides to undertake a lung transplant is a very personal decision. We have three booklets on graft for people with cystic fibrosis, their friends and families and parents of children who are going through the graft process .
Cystic fibrosis cross-infection
Owing to the increased hazard posed by infections, people with CF should not meet each other confront to face. Although the infection-causing bacteria do not pose a risk to people without the condition, people with CF may have unlike types of bacteria that would prove dangerous to each other .
Find out more about cross-infection and what it means for people with cystic fibrosis. You can besides watch our television by CF nurse Jacqui Cowlard explaining more about cross-infection .