Question: Someone i know has systic vibroses can anything cure it?

Ollie Russell answered on 14 Jun 2011:

Cystic fibrosis is basically caused when the lung cells produce the wrong type of mucus which means that it cant be coughed up or move up the windpipe as easily. In normal people this mucus is used by the lungs to remove things like dust and bacteria and is normally wafted out of the lungs and up the wind pipe by tiny hairs.

We can treat the symptoms this causes by giving drugs to break up the mucus and physio therapy to help cough up the mucus. The only way to treat it would be to repair the broken pump in the lung cells that causes the disease. As yet no one has done this. A possible cure in the future could be similar to the work I do where we could give the cell the correct DNA to make a better pump for making the mucus. Better drugs are made all the time so I think its just a matter of time before we find either a really good treatment or a cure 🙂

Until the 1940’s most people died of starvation that had this disease as it also affects the way the pancreas moves enzymes into the gut. Treatments for this were developed and now this is a very rare way to die from the disease.

Watch this space.