Prevent dehydration (a condition in which the body doesn't have enough
fluids)
Depending on how severe the disease is, you or your child may be treated in a
hospital.
Specialists Involved
If you or your child has cystic fibrosis, you may be treated by a cystic
fibrosis specialist. This is a
doctor who is familiar with the complex nature of cystic fibrosis.
Often, a cystic fibrosis specialist works with a medical team of nurses, physical
therapists, dietitians, and social workers. Cystic fibrosis specialists often are located at
major medical centers.
Treatment for Lung Problems
The main treatments for lung problems in people who have cystic fibrosis are chest
physical therapy (CPT), exercise, and medicines.
Chest Physical Therapy
CPT also is called chest clapping or percussion. It involves pounding your
chest and back over and over with your hands or a device to loosen the mucus
from your lungs so that you can cough it up.
You might sit down or lie on your stomach with your head down while you do
CPT. Gravity and force help drain the mucus from your lungs.
Some people find CPT hard or uncomfortable to do. Several devices have been
developed that may help with CPT, such as:
An electric chest clapper, known as a mechanical percussor.
An inflatable therapy vest that uses high-frequency airwaves to force the
mucus that's deep in your lungs toward your upper airways so you can cough it
up.
A small handheld device that you breathe out through. It causes vibrations
that dislodge the mucus.
A mask that creates vibrations that help break the mucus loose from your
airway walls.
Breathing techniques also may help dislodge mucus so you can cough it up.
These techniques include forcing out a couple of short breaths or deeper breaths
and then doing relaxed breathing. This may help loosen the mucus in your lungs
and open your airways.
Exercise
Aerobic exercise that makes you breathe harder helps loosen the mucus in your
airways so you can cough it up. Exercise also helps improve your overall
physical condition.
However, cystic fibrosis causes your sweat to become very salty. As a result, your body
loses large amounts of salt when you sweat. Thus, your doctor may recommend a
high-salt diet or salt supplements to maintain the balance of minerals in your
blood.
If you exercise regularly, you may be able to cut back on your CPT. However,
you should check with your doctor before doing this.
Medicines
If you have cystic fibrosis, you doctor may prescribe antibiotics, anti-inflammatory
medicines, bronchodilators, or mucus-thinning medicines. These medicines help
treat or prevent lung infections, reduce swelling, open up the airways, and thin
mucus.
Antibiotics are the main treatment to prevent or treat lung infections. Your
doctor may prescribe oral, inhaled, or intravenous (IV) antibiotics.
Oral antibiotics often are used to treat mild lung infections. Inhaled
antibiotics may be used to prevent or control infections caused by the bacteria
mucoid Pseudomonas. For severe or hard-to-treat infections, you may be given
antibiotics through a tube inserted into a vein. This type of treatment may
require you to stay in the hospital.
Anti-inflammatory medicines can help reduce swelling in your airways that's
caused by ongoing infections. These medicines may be inhaled or oral.
Bronchodilator medicines help open the airways by relaxing the muscles around
them. These medicines are inhaled and often are taken just before CPT to help
clear out mucus. You also may take bronchodilators before inhaling other
medicines into your lungs.
Your doctor may prescribe mucus thinners to reduce the stickiness of your
mucus and to loosen it up. These medicines can help clear out mucus, improve
lung function, and prevent worsening lung symptoms.
Treatments for Advanced Lung Disease
If you have advanced lung disease and the level of oxygen in your blood is
low, you may need oxygen therapy. Oxygen usually is given through nasal prongs
or a mask.
If other treatments haven't worked, lung transplant may be an option if you
have severe lung disease. A lung transplant is surgery to remove a person's
diseased lung and replace it with a healthy lung from a deceased donor.
Treatment for Digestive Problems
Cystic fibrosis can cause a number of digestive problems, including poor growth and
development, bulky stools, intestinal gas, a swollen belly, severe constipation,
and pain or discomfort.
Nutritional therapy can improve your strength and ability to stay active. It
also can improve growth and development in children. Nutritional therapy also
may make you strong enough to resist some lung infections. A nutritionist can
help you create a nutritional plan that meets your needs.
In addition to having a well-balanced diet that's rich in calories, fat, and
protein, your nutritional therapy may include:
Oral pancreatic enzymes to help you digest fats and proteins and absorb
more vitamins.
Supplements of vitamins A, D, E, and K to replace the fat-soluble vitamins
that your intestines can't absorb.
High-calorie shakes to provide you with additional nutrients.
A high-salt diet or salt supplements that you take before doing vigorous
exercise.
A feeding tube to give you more calories at night while you're sleeping.
The tube may be threaded through your nose and throat and into your stomach. Or,
it may be placed directly into your stomach through a surgically made hole.
Before you go to bed each night, you will attach a bag with a nutritional
solution to the entrance of the tube. It will feed you while you sleep.
Other treatments for digestive problems may include enemas and mucus-thinning
medicines to treat intestinal blockages. Sometimes surgery is needed to remove
an intestinal blockage.
Your doctor also may prescribe medicines to reduce your stomach acid and help
oral pancreatic enzymes work better.
Treatments for Cystic Fibrosis Complications
A common complication of cystic fibrosis is diabetes. The type of diabetes that people who
have cystic fibrosis develop often requires different treatment than other types of diabetes.
Another common complication is the bone-thinning disorder osteoporosis. Your
doctor may prescribe medicines that prevent your bones from losing their
density.
Diarrhea is a change is the frequency and looseness of bowel movements. Cramping, abdominal pain, and the sensation of rectal urgency are all symptoms of diarrhea. Absorbents and anti-motility medications are used to treat diarrhea.
Gallstones are stones that form when substances in the bile harden. Gallstones (formed in the gallbladder) can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. There can be just one large stone, hundreds of tiny stones, or any combination. The majority of gallstones do not cause symptoms.
Sinus infection (sinusitis) signs and symptoms include headache, fever, and facial tenderness, pressure, or pain. Treatments of sinus infections are generally with antibiotics and at times, home remedies.
Dehydration is the excessive loss of body water. There are a number of causes of dehydration including heat exposure, prolonged vigorous exercise, and some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The best way to treat dehydration is to prevent it from occurring.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition characterized by high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood. The two types of diabetes are referred to as type 1 (insulin dependent) and type 2 (non-insulin dependent). Symptoms of diabetes include increased urine output, thirst, hunger, and fatigue. Treatment of diabetes depends on the type.
Chronic cough is a cough that does not go away and is generally a symptom of another disorder such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, sinus infection, cigarette smoking, GERD, postnasal drip, bronchitis, pneumonia, medications, and less frequently tumors or other lung disease. Treatment of chronic cough is dependant upon the cause.
Cysts are saclike structures that can occur throughout the body and usually contain a semisolid, liquid, or gaseous substance. Infections, tumors, genetic conditions, chronic inflammatory conditions, and wear and tear can cause cysts. Though some cysts may be palpable, others may not produce any symptoms. Treatment depends upon the location and cause of the cyst.
Pancreatitis is a rare disease in which the pancreas becomes inflamed, occurring when digestive enzymes are activated and begin attacking the pancreas causing damage to the gland. There are two types of pancreatitis, acute and chronic. Most commonly caused by alcohol or gallstones, it can lead to bleeding in the gland, serious tissue damage, infection, and cysts. Enzymes and toxins may then enter the bloodstream and seriously injure organs, such as the heart, lungs, and kidney.
Stool color is generally brown. When stool color changes, often, an individual becomes concerned. The presence of the bilirubin in bile is generally responsible for stool color. Bilirubin concentration can vary bile color from light yellow to almost black in color. Changes in bilirubin can cause stool to turn green, gray, or clay-like in color. Intestinal bleeding may turn stool black, tarry, red, maroon, or smelly stool. Medication and food may also affect stool color.
Learn about osteoporosis, a condition characterized by the loss of bone density, which leads to an increased risk of bone fracture. Unless one experiences a fracture, a person may have osteoporosis for decades without knowing it. Treatment for osteoporosis may involve medications that stop bone loss and increase bone strength and bone formation, as well as quitting smoking, regular exercise, cutting back on alcohol intake, and eating a calcium- and vitamin D-rich balanced diet.
Heat stroke (heatstroke or sun stroke) is a form of hyperthermia. Heat stroke is a true medical emergency that can be fatal if not promptly and properly treated. Symptoms of heat stroke include: high body temperature, absence of sweating, with hot red or flushed dry skin, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, strange behavior, hallucinations, confusion, agitation, disorientation, seizure, and coma. A victim of heat stroke must receive immediate treatment to avoid permanent organ damage.
A pneumothorax is free air in the chest outside the lung, that causes the lung to collapse (collapsed lung). There are two types of pneumothorax, spontaneous or primary pneumothorax and secondary pneumothorax. Symptoms include sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, rapid breathing, cough, and fatigue.
Smoking is an addiction. More than 430,000 deaths occur each year in the U.S. from smoking related illnesses. Secondhand smoke or "passive smoke" also harm family members, coworkers, and others around smokers. There are a number of techniques available to assist people who want to quit smoking.
Infertility is the diminished ability to conceive a child. The primary cause of infertility in men is a sperm disorder. In women, the primary cause of infertility is an ovulation disorder. Most forms of infertility can be treated. Conventional infertility therapies include drugs or surgery.
Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop after several days of exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement fluids. Warning signs of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting, and fainting.
The time when boys and girls begin the process of sexual maturation is called puberty. During this time, both sexes undergo a series of biological changes that include a rapid increase in height, bone growth, weight increase, the growth of pubic hair, breast development and the onset of menstruation in girls, and testicle, penis, and muscle enlargement in boys.
Bronchiectasis is a condition in which the bronchial tubes of the lung become damaged. Inflammation from infection or other causes destroys the smooth muscles of the bronchial tubes. Bronchiectasis is a form of COPD (which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis). There are three primary types of bronchiectasis: 1) cylindrical bronchiectasis; 2) saccular bronchiectasis; and 3) cystic bronchiectasis. Bronchiectasis may also be acquired or congenital. The most common symptoms of bronchiectasis are recurrent cough and sputum production. There is no cure for bronchiectasis. Treatment is often geared toward controlling the symptoms of bronchiectasis.
Genetic disease is a disorder or condition caused by abnormalities in a person's genome. Types of genetic inheritance include single inheritance (for example, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, Marfan syndrome, and hemochromatosis), multifactoral inheritance, chromosome abnormalities (for example, Turner syndrome, and Klinefelter syndrome), and mitochondrial inheritance (for example, epilepsy and dementia).
Pregnancy planning is important to help prevent exposure of the mother and fetus to potentially harmful medications and substances during the early days, and throughout the pregnancy. Nutritional planning, prevention of birth defects, conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease need careful monitoring. Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and pregnancy induced hypertension are conditions that may arise during pregnancy. Immunizations, inherited disorders, exercise, air travel, intercourse, and birth control are important factors to consider when planning a pregnancy.
Intussusception is the telescoping (prolapse) of a portion of the intestine within another immediately adjacent portion of intestine. Intussusception affects children between the ages of 3 months and 6 years of age. The causes of intussusception is not clearly understood. Symptoms of intussusception include bilious vomiting, "currant jelly stool," and colicky abdominal pain. Intussusception is an emergency requires immediate attention.
The risks for developing type 2 diabetes include family history, ethnicity, birth weight, metabolic syndrome, and obesity. Warning signs pointing to an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes include irregular menstruation, impaired fasting glucose, inflammatory markers, and other risks. Gestational diabetes is also a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Prevention of type 2 diabetes can be achieved through a healthy diet (Mediterranean diet), exercise, weight control, not smoking, and medication.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked with rickets, cancer, cardiovascular disease, severe asthma in children and cognitive impairment in older adults. Causes include not ingesting enough of the vitamin over time, having limited exposure to sunlight, having dark skin, and obesity. Symptoms include bone pain and muscle weakness. Treatment for vitamin D deficiency involves obtaining more vitamin D through supplements, diet, or exposure to sunlight.
Trying to get conceive, or become pregnant can be challenging, frustrating, and an emotional rollercoaster for some couples. There are things you can do to chart progress, which may ultimately lead to a successful healthy pregnancy, or, when necessary, lead to discussions with a fertility specialist. Being aware of your menstrual cycle, charting your fertility pattern, knowing the reasons for infertility, and treating infertility are key points to discuss with your partner and physician.
Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of disease. Regular exercise can also reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety. There are fitness programs that fit any age or lifestyle.
Secondhand smoke can cause illness and disease in nonsmokers. Some of these conditions include lung cancer, heart disease, respiratory illnesses such as asthma, SIDS, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Learn how you can protect yourself and your family from secondhand smoke exposure in the home environment and workplace.
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