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About CF/carbon dioxide

Question
My friend has CF and now a high content of carbon dioxide has been measured. What does this mean?
Answer
The most important job of the lungs is to take up oxygen (O2) from the inhaled air and also to remove carbon dioxide (CO2, carbon dioxide) while exhaling. This carbon dioxide is being produced in the tissues of the body: in the cells of these tissues the oxygen and glucose create energy. This energy is necessary for function. But this process also creates waste products like water and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide must be removed from the body: via the blood carbon dioxide reaches the lungs. In the lungs, CO2 passes from the larger blood vessels into the capillaries, that are very thin permeable blood vessels located in the wall of the pulmonary alveoli. This way the CO2 molecules move from the capillaries into the alveoli and are removed via the airways by breathing out.
This whole process runs smoothly as long as the capillaries and the walls of the alveoli are thin and very close to each other, and as long as the airways remain open so that CO2 can pass smoothly.
But when the lungs are very sick, CO2 cannot be sufficiently removed and remains in the blood so that the CO2 content in the blood rises. In CF, an increased CO2 level is thus usually a sign of more advanced lung disease.
We suggest that you discuss this also with your doctor.

Dr. Annemie Dieltjens
19.07.2015