CF in adults

Question

Is it possible to get CF as an adult?
Our twins have been diagnosed with a protein-S deficiency and 4G/4G polymorphism in the prothrombin gene. My husband has the protein-S deficiency, but the 4G/4G has not been tested.
For one year now he suffers from mucous sputum with continuous cough and shortness of breath. An allergy test and a CT-scan did not reveal any new findings. He is thought to belong to the rare cases of patients whose illness can not be explained. His grandfather died 1964 of TB, he however is born in 1965. At the moment he takes Tiotropiumbromid for medication.

Answer

Hello,
You have to distinguish between two very different things:
1. You can not get (acquire) CF, because it is a genetic defect (a mistake in the genetic material), which is, as a consequence, existing from birth on.
2. However it is possible – even if the mistake in the genetic material is existing from birth on -, to discover for the first time as an adult, that such a defect is the reason for certain symptoms. This is however often not happening out of the blue; instead the symptoms have often been misinterpreted over the years and sometimes over decades.
From what I can conclude according to the information you give about your husband, I would not necessarily think of CF, but there is nothing against it to talk about your concern with the care-taking pulmonologist. It is not easy to accept something as “unclear” and this should only be accepted if really everything had been done to clarify the cause of the symptoms.
Sometimes you can not avoid the visit of a specialized centre.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. TOF Wagner

26.11.2007