Research Makes Case for Aggressive Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis
A study by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center shows that increasingly aggressive treatment regimens that are now being used by a growing number of centers across the country enhance outcomes for children with Cystic Fibrosis(CF).
Focusing on children ages 6 to 12 treated at the Cincinnati Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Center, the researchers found that comprehensive interventions that included earlier treatment with mucous-thinning medication, enhanced nutrition and aggressive infection control were associated with on average no decline in lung function.
"We believe this to be the first peer-reviewed data that shows essentially zero decline in lung function in kids with CF between ages 6 to 12, and that there may be other treatment centers seeing similar results,” said Gary McPhail, MD, a physician and researcher in the division of Pulmonary Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s and lead author of the study.
“Our study underscores the importance of being very aggressive with treatment at an early age to have a significant benefit for children, which is an approach advocated by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,” says Dr. McPhail.
The researchers studied the health outcomes of two different groups of children with CF – those born between 1985-1992 and 1993-2000. The children born later received more aggressive treatment at an earlier age because of new therapies and research indicating the approach would be more effective.
The study, which was posted online in the Journal of Pediatrics, also supports information coming from other medical centers and the CF Foundation on the benefits of improved nutrition and treatment with dornase alfa, an inhalant used to reduce the thickness of mucous that contributes to chronic lung infections and damage in children with CF, said Dr. McPhail.
