I have been caught up in "The Bacterial Food Web May be Key to Cystic Fibrosis" post and the nut of that topic winds up with a different approach to the issue of our special lung mucus. Buffered solutions, especially buffering an acid, sodium bicarbonate could be utilized in part, to raise the pH.
Rebjane's link to PulmoSal 7% achieves a safe test of the principal described in the University of Iowa link. The pathogens in our lungs prefer a slightly acidic environment. Hypersal is slightly acidic but PulmoSal is buffered to 7-7.4 or neutral to slightly caustic or basic. A switch over to PulmoSal for a test period should show improvement if the theory presented by U of I is valid. Raising the pH even more would in theory make a more hostile environment for pathogenic bacteria but it would start to burn our tissue at a point. A pH battle goes on between competing organisms like yeasts, bacteria and molds. They don’t all hate a low pH.
A buffered solution is more effective over a longer period of time as buffering maintains a set pH, adjusting a chemical interaction to keep the pH from changing. A buffered solution is like a chemical cruise control, up's and down's in the pH environment are corrected to keep the pH concentration from deviating. An acid combines with a base to make a salt so merely adding a base to an acidic fluid binds the two and only changing the pH as long as nothing is added or subtracted. It's like antacids, their good for that one garlic fish taco, eat another taco, another dosing and so on. My point is the pulmoSal has a buffered pH that is already a safe product and potentially the best way to try the idea of raising the pH of your lung mucus. Buffered solutions are powerful, much more than just adding a base.
My disconnect with sodium bicarbonate is chloride ions. CFers need more salt than others because of poor chlorine or chloride transport. Inhaling a salt solution is making the exterior of cells hypertonic or high in salt ions. Osmosis or the free transport of water through the cell membrane is how our defective cells end up dried out. The cells can’t get rid of their chlorine ions, instead they push water out in a hopeless attempt to equalize the ion concentration on both sides of the cell membrane. These dried up cells make our dried up mucus. With an excess of chloride ions present due to inhaling salt solution, the tables are turned and the environment outside the cells has an excess of salt or chloride ions. The mucus cells swell with water and almost normal mucus is expressed, breaking up the mucus from the epithelial surface out.
Salt’s direct effect on our salty mucus works in a similar way, enticing salt out of the desiccated mucus in exchange for water. There have been some significant discoveries in the cross species presentation of a disease. University of Iowa’s study may have something with their discovery. It would be interesting to discover the ideal pH for CFers to keep their lungs healthy.
Good luck with your next step,
LL
p.s. Sodium bicarbonate has been given to correct cardiac events in E.R. environments. Just because it's on the kitchen shelf, don't underestimate the effects of ingestion by any means beyond eating. That 1/8 teaspoon in a receipe like all the potassium in a banana, the gut makes sure you don't get too much. Sodium bicarbonate inhalation in concentration could restart your heart. Or stop it.
