CF in 78 year old???

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anonymous

New member
Hi, my great uncle lives with me and is 78 years old. he has recently become very ill for no apparent reason. all tests have shown clear and doctors have said it is from 'wear and tear'. then he went to a specialist for his problem with breathing and exhaustion. this doctoe then told him that he had cystic fibrosis. can this be? i was lead to believe and have also researched information on this and it appears to me that it can only be inherited and not just dveloped this late in life. can anybody answer this query for me?
Thanks
 
J

JennifersHope

New member
It sounds more like pulmonary fibrosis to me....... unless he had a sweat test or genetic blood test that would be a definite diagnoise.
 
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anonymous

New member
Although CF is genetic, it is entirely possible that he could have had such a mild form of CF that it went unnoticed for 78 years. However, unless his Dr.'s did a specific "sweat test" or took a blood draw for DNA analysis, I don't see how they could have arrived at that diagnosis.... seems like generic COPD would have been more appropriate.
 
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anonymous

New member
When you find out details on if/how he was tested, let us know. Now I'm curious if he really does have CF.
Hope
 
2

2005CFmom

Super Moderator
Yes, please let us know if it was a definate CF diagnosis by sweat test or blood test.

My father (65 yrs) and grandmother (73 yrs) both died of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. The Idiopathic basically meant that there was no known cause of their lung fibrosis. Anyway, since my daughters diagnosis 4 months ago I was wondering if it was possible if they actually had a very mild form of CF. Recently we were going through some of my dads old keepsakes and we came across a shirt that he kept from a high school camp. It looked so small and my mom said that he was very skinny back then. I remember a large man (not fat). But looking back he was barrel chested (which made him look large), but had the skinniest little bird legs!

Anyway, I guess I will never know if it was CF that caused the lung fibrosis but I will always wonder.
 
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Alyssa

New member
I know of a man 75 years old with CF. His name is Hal Hasoloff. If you google his name several stories about him will come up, some newer than others, most written by him.

So yes, it could be possible that your great uncle has CF, but no... like someone else said he did not just "get" CF -- if he does have the genes, then he was born with CF -- but he was just now correctly diagnosed.
 
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JustDucky

New member
That's pretty wild...a 78 yr old with CF! My primary doc diagnosed a 52 year old with CF and I thought that was amazing. I find that it is interesting how more and more older adults are diagonsed, myself being one of them at 33. Yes, please let us know how the docs came to this diagnosis. Jenn<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
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treehugger

New member
I believe it. I was diagnosed last year at age 44. I have 2 mutations, one the delta F508 and the other a very rare one (a splicing mutation). My disease has been mild most likely because the second mutation is not as severe. I have had sinus problems all my life and what I thought was uncontrolled asthma for 20 years. It took bronchiectasis, atelectasis and pseudomonas to start the doctors thinking. My sweat test was borderline but naso PD and Ambry test positive. If it wasn't for some smart doctors I may never have found out! I am new here and my name is Lisa. Thank you all for posting so much information. You have really helped educate me and given CF a very human side.
 
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JazzysMom

New member
Welcome Lisa a/k/a Treehugger! Good to know that U were able to manage well for so long. So well that the dx took u getting pseudomonas first!
 
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anonymous

New member
Hi its me again (its my great uncle) i will let you all know when we find out. thanks so much for writing back. Sharon
 
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