Exercise is key and often overlooked as a treatment method for CF. Michael Burke, 44, is a lifelong battler with cystic fibrosis. He says: “From my sixth birthday to my 16th birthday, I thought way too much about dying. It was wasteful worrying. Here I am in my 40s, and I’ve run marathons, half-marathons, a triathlon, I’ve hiked mountains, and all that worry was for nothing. I didn’t die.”
He attributes his longevity to being active. Fitness has held him up even when he was lax on taking his medications, he said. It’s logical, Burke says. “You get these infections in your lungs; this mucous builds up and attracts bugs,” he said. “Exercise makes you breathe hard, breathing hard helps you cough and move that stuff out.”
“Bugs” are microbes that people normally breathe in. With cystic fibrosis, the invaders thrive in the mucous and cause infections that can take weeks or months to stop. The infections diminish lung capacity, the cause of most fatalities.
So make sure you get in enough exercise each day. Not only will it help to treat CF, it will help keep your body healthy and strong so that when it needs to fight of infection, it is able to do so.
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- Chris
He attributes his longevity to being active. Fitness has held him up even when he was lax on taking his medications, he said. It’s logical, Burke says. “You get these infections in your lungs; this mucous builds up and attracts bugs,” he said. “Exercise makes you breathe hard, breathing hard helps you cough and move that stuff out.”
“Bugs” are microbes that people normally breathe in. With cystic fibrosis, the invaders thrive in the mucous and cause infections that can take weeks or months to stop. The infections diminish lung capacity, the cause of most fatalities.
So make sure you get in enough exercise each day. Not only will it help to treat CF, it will help keep your body healthy and strong so that when it needs to fight of infection, it is able to do so.
Like and share on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowcf/posts/10152808961263777
- Chris