i'm still learning about cf but i know a cf patient can become diabetic . if that happens is it related to certain mutations or any mix of mutations? also if you become diabetic do you have to inject insulin or take medications to control it ? thanks in advance!!!!<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">
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a question about cf related diabetes
- Thread starter welshgirl
- Start date
my understanding is that it does not necessarily have to do with the mutation that you have. maybe one day this will not be the case. i think a lot of us would agree that it seems possible to control the onset of diabetes for some of us. keeping your lungs healthy, not eating crazy amounts of sugar, exercising--these things may help to post pone or stall diabetes onset. (that is my opinion only.)
the pancrease becomes insufficient due to scarring. just as one might need to increase her enzymes over time, that same kind of scarring leads to insulin production slowing in the body as well; i have needed to up my insulin dose as time has gone by for this reason.
i do inject insulin and i have since i became diabetic. i don't beleive they use pills for CF patients because that is to treat type ii diabetes and what we develop is more closely related to type i. (type i pancrease does not produce insulin; type ii pancrease does produce insulin but the body is unable to absorb it.)
hope this helps.
laura, 27, diabetic since age 15 or so
the pancrease becomes insufficient due to scarring. just as one might need to increase her enzymes over time, that same kind of scarring leads to insulin production slowing in the body as well; i have needed to up my insulin dose as time has gone by for this reason.
i do inject insulin and i have since i became diabetic. i don't beleive they use pills for CF patients because that is to treat type ii diabetes and what we develop is more closely related to type i. (type i pancrease does not produce insulin; type ii pancrease does produce insulin but the body is unable to absorb it.)
hope this helps.
laura, 27, diabetic since age 15 or so
Not all CFers develop CFRD. I dont know the % off the top of my head, but IMHO its rather low considering that 85% that have pancreatic dysfunction.. The Diabetes doctor I went to (not a CFRD specialist just regular diabetes doctor) said she treats ANYONE with pancreatic involvement as a diabetic. As to the severtiy & treatment of each varies, but in her mind anyone with pancreatic issues falls into this catergory. I understand her thinking, but with CFers (as with so much with us) its not that cut & dry.
thelizardqueen
New member
About 10% of all CFers get CF related diabetes. Its because our pancrease doesn't work properly to begin with, so it has to work extra hard to produce insulin. Plus think of all the scarring your pancreas will get from CF. I've been diabetic for 10 years now, and I've always been on insulin.
Here is a link regarding CFRD - this came to me on my google alert for CF. I found it very interesting. It is a summary of the findings that were published this month in the American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes.
"Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes is due to functional abnormalities in beta cells"
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.rxpgnews.com/research/respiratorymedicine/cysticfibrosis/article_4659.shtml
">http://www.rxpgnews.com/resear...icle_4659.shtml
</a>
"Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes is due to functional abnormalities in beta cells"
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.rxpgnews.com/research/respiratorymedicine/cysticfibrosis/article_4659.shtml
">http://www.rxpgnews.com/resear...icle_4659.shtml
</a>
Hmm, not working for me now either. Try this link and then click on the article titled "Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes is due to functional abnormalities in beta cells". Currently it is the first article on the page, but they move down as new ones get added.
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.rxpgnews.com/respiratorymedicine.shtml">http://www.rxpgnews.com/respiratorymedicine.shtml</a>
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.rxpgnews.com/respiratorymedicine.shtml">http://www.rxpgnews.com/respiratorymedicine.shtml</a>
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>welshgirl</b></i>
do all cfers develop diabetes then ? if not, is there a known percentage who do.? ps. answer was a great help.<img src=""> thank you!!!</end quote></div>
This is taken from above-mentioned article:
<b>"Twenty-five percent of adolescents and 40 percent of adults with cystic fibrosis have diabetes, and diabetes is associated with poorer survival in this population," said Antoinette Moran, M.D., division head of pediatric endocrinology and director of the Pediatric Diabetes Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School.</b>
I thought this article was a little bizarre... they say that CFRD decreases a woman's life expectancy 16 years?!?! I've always heard that CFRD is quite treatable, and as long as controlled does not necessarily lead to a plummeting decline in health. This article was very negative as far as the prognosis, and they don't site any documentation to back up their claims. Hmmmm..... Maybe they were going for shock value?
Thanks for posting tho! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
do all cfers develop diabetes then ? if not, is there a known percentage who do.? ps. answer was a great help.<img src=""> thank you!!!</end quote></div>
This is taken from above-mentioned article:
<b>"Twenty-five percent of adolescents and 40 percent of adults with cystic fibrosis have diabetes, and diabetes is associated with poorer survival in this population," said Antoinette Moran, M.D., division head of pediatric endocrinology and director of the Pediatric Diabetes Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School.</b>
I thought this article was a little bizarre... they say that CFRD decreases a woman's life expectancy 16 years?!?! I've always heard that CFRD is quite treatable, and as long as controlled does not necessarily lead to a plummeting decline in health. This article was very negative as far as the prognosis, and they don't site any documentation to back up their claims. Hmmmm..... Maybe they were going for shock value?
Thanks for posting tho! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>welshgirl</b></i>
i was shocked by that "16 yrs" claim too. hope it's wrong!!!!!</end quote></div>
Even tho it is controlled, my understanding is that anything that is not your body's own doing/making (like the insulin we inject) will take a toll on things thus shortening the life etc. As to whether its 16 years I dont know, but if basing that on the Non CF life span I would say that is possible. The diabetes doctor told me that (non CF mind you) to do alternate methods (diet, exercise etc) to help your body regulate the sugars on its own is better than pumping it full of "artificial" meds.
i was shocked by that "16 yrs" claim too. hope it's wrong!!!!!</end quote></div>
Even tho it is controlled, my understanding is that anything that is not your body's own doing/making (like the insulin we inject) will take a toll on things thus shortening the life etc. As to whether its 16 years I dont know, but if basing that on the Non CF life span I would say that is possible. The diabetes doctor told me that (non CF mind you) to do alternate methods (diet, exercise etc) to help your body regulate the sugars on its own is better than pumping it full of "artificial" meds.