fibrosis

Question

My parents told me that they put my bed more upright because I had a lot of secretions. Years later, after a lot of worries with my health it was concluded that I had fibrosis in my throat and quite a severe form. This became apparent after removal of a nerve when my molars were being extracted during general anaesthesia. I’m now four years past that last surgery and have a lot of difficulty eating and I sometimes feel short of breath and I’m very much affected by certain weather conditions. In my case, do you then speak of CF or what should I think because there is very little quidance in this field.
Joanna

Answer

Dear Joanna,
Fibrosis is a general medical word to state there is an excess of connective tissue. Connective tissue is a normal part of our tissues but when an organ becomes sick or when there is damage in a specific organ too much connective tissue is being made. As a result the organ will become more stiff because excess connective tissue behaves like a sort of scar tissue. The website ECORN concerns the disease Cystic Fibrosis. This is the name of a very specific severe congenital disease. And general questions about this disease are being discussed on this forum. People with cystic fibrosis or mucoviscidose (another name for the same disease) suffer from repeated infections of the airways and most of the patients will also have poor digestion. The best test to detect whether you have this disease is the sweat test.
I suspect that you found this website via the word “fibrosis”. In your story , there is little concern to think about this very specific inherited disease. You only mention that you are very sensitive to certain weather conditions. With the limited information that you bring there is little reason to think of cystic fibrosis but please do discuss your concern with your doctor, he knows you best. To give medical advice for an individual by email is certainly not the purpose of this website.

Kind regards
K. De Boeck

13.10.2009