<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Foody</b></i>
I agree that the lungs are the most important factor in terms of longevity. However, I believe the lungs, digestive system, sinuses and skin are all in the same acupuncture meridian, thus the health or balance of one affects the health and balance of the others. This is rarely looked at in terms of studies (at least as far as I have found). How much does inflammation in the gut affect the lungs and sinuses over time? (and vice versa) Can improving and reducing inflammation in the gut positively affect the lungs (and vice versa)? I believe it is connected and perhaps looking at the inter-relatedness of these systems could open new understanding about disease progression. Science tends to use only reductionist methods (isolate this system, this cell, this nutrient) when you can't really look at one thing without the rest. I think way more could be done to create digestive health and I wonder very much how this would affect the lungs and other systems.
Just some thoughts.</end quote></div>
I think digestive health plays a huge part in the overall prognosis of cf. It seems that the best outcomes are of those that have an intact digestive tract....and are of normal wieght.
I think it is part of the progressive nature of this disease. We are start off relatively healthy. When we start getting infections, we need more nutrients to keep up our immune system. However, since our digestion is impaired, we start leeching it from other sources, thus creating dificiences and such. People that do not have cf and are chonically inflammed, have an overactive immunes system also show some of the same signs of cf (insulin resistance, vitamin deficiencies, wieight loss etc).
However, there are at least two new enzyme therapies comming out that look very promising, so i am very excited about that.