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Just a few decades ago, patients with cystic fibrosis, a disorder that gradually destroys lung
function, didn't live past their teenage years. Now more and more young people with C-F are
surviving into their thirties some even longer.
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But with this increase in lifespan has comes a new complication. About half of cystic fibrosis patients show signs of a C-F-related form of diabetes by age thirty, and doctors know little about what causes it. What's worse, when diabetes is in the picture, life expectancy for patients with C-F plummets, on average by two years in men and a whopping sixteen years in women. Now research from the University of Florida suggests that diabetes in lab animals with C-F is not just caused by the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the body, as is generally the case in type-one diabetes, but changes in how the cells' function contribute as well.
Dr. Michael Stalvey / UF diabetes expert
"What our research showed was that not necessarily is it all due to just the chronic destruction, but rather there could be an underlying difference in blood sugar control in individuals that have cystic fibrosis."
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That need for blood sugar control presents an added dilemma for people with cystic fibrosis. Their bodies can't efficiently process nutrients, so they need to eat more food, more frequently, to make up the deficit. But high-calorie diets and diabetes don't mix. So U-F experts say doctors should continue to work closely with their patients to make sure they're covered with enough insulin injections each day to counterbalance their nutritional needs. One bit of good news for researchers: Cystic fibrosis patients don't have to overcome the immune system attacks that some diabetes patients have, making potential cures for C-F-related diabetes a bit more clearcut. And experts think studying this different form of diabetes could potentially yield new treatments for those with common forms of diabetes.
Dr. Michael Stalvey / UF diabetes expert
"So we can get a lot of future understanding for ways to potentially seek out cures for other forms of diabetes through a better understanding of this particular form."
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At the University of Florida Health Science Center, I'm Mike Garrison
