Forgot your password?

Please enter your username or email address. Instructions for resetting the password will be immediately emailed to you.
Reset Password

Return to login form 

Please note: While some information will still be current in a year, other information may already be out of date in three months time. If you are in any doubt, please feel free to ask.

Great cold exists

Question
Hello,
We have our 8-year-old boy with Cystic Fibrosis and we live in an area where the temperature can fall below -20 ° C. I would have liked to know at what negative temperature he could go outside?
I take him to the bus in the morning by foot and then in the evening we come back from the bus by foot and at school there are recreations.
I cover him well hood + muffler then ski coat but I'm afraid that the cold will damage his lungs.
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Cordially
Answer
Hello,

Existing cold wheather may be discouraged in people with cystic fibrosis and advanced respiratory disease or during treatment of complications. But, unless there is a health event that justifies a special treatment and resting at home, your child must be able to live like other children of his age by following the recommendations to be applied during periods of extreme coldness:

Have a suitable outfit to go out:
- Dress warmly with several layers of superimposed clothing, one of which is exterior, impervious to wind and water.
- Cover the head and neck or even the face and mouth with bonnet, hood, scarf as it is a part of the body by which up to 30% of body heat loss can occur;
- Thread gloves, mittens and thick socks.
- Make shoes comfortable and waterproof.

Pay special attention to water and salt supplementation in case of dry cold (loss of water by breathing) and physical activity (loss of water and salt by sweat). In the event of a prolonged exit, provide a hot (but not burning!) beverage stored in a thermos.

These precautions being taken, except evoked respiratory impairment and the special case where it is a triggering factor of bronchospasm (asthma crisis), the cold:
- does not prevent physical activity: on the contrary, it is particularly beneficial for these patients (especially mountain activities);
- does not pose a particular risk to the lungs: the health indicators of CF patients in the north regions of America or Europe are not inferior and may even be better: in the United States, the cystic fibrosis centers that have often had the best indicators of FEV1% both for children and adults are 2 Centers near the border to Canada: the temperature in winter is there often below -20 ° Celsius!

Hoping to have answered your question.
Best regards,
Gilles RAULT, CRCM of Roscoff
14.02.2017