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Irish team make cystic fibrosis discovery

By
DARA KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 8:13 AM
Updated Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 8:16 AM

 

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Irish scientists breakthrough in hormone research may mean a breakthrough for cystic fibrosis patients
Irish scientists breakthrough in hormone research may mean a breakthrough for cystic fibrosis patients

The treatment of women with cystic fibrosis, a disease more prevalent in Ireland than in any other country, could be helped by a major Irish scientific breakthrough.

Almost four times as many people in Ireland have cystic fibrosis (CF) than in other EU countries or the US.

The survival rate for females with the respiratory disease, which seriously inhibits sufferers’ lung use, is much lower than men’s and they are also more susceptible to ongoing lung infections.

But now researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have made an important discovery explaining the gender discrepancy.

They found that the estrogen hormone, which is found in much higher levels of which, prevents the release of a chemical signal that can help trigger white blood cells to fight infection in the lungs when bacteria attack cells.

But the RCSI work, funded by the program for research in third level institutions and a Molecular Medicine Ireland scientist fellowship, could improve the quality of life for female cystic fibrosis sufferers, who usually survive two to five years shorter than male counterparts.

'Our research may contribute toward narrowing the gender gap in cystic fibrosis by identifying new potential targets for treatment such as stabilization of estrogen levels or more aggressively employing preventative strategies against infection during the one week of the four week menstrual cycle where estrogen levels are at their highest,' Doctor Sanjay Chotirmall said.

Chotirmall plans further research over the next year while on leave from the specialist registration-training scheme at Beaumont Hospital, where a new outpatient facility for CF patients is to open in the coming weeks.

Special facilities for CF sufferers will be provided at a 120-bed unit to be built at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin.

The incidence of CF in Ireland – 2.98 per 10,000 – is the world’s highest and it affects about one in every 1,600 children born here. 

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3 Comments

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Posted by nambek12 on Aug 12, 2010, 10:42 AM EDT
Since we have a grandaughter with CF we thought this most interesting.
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Posted by jamieLM on Aug 12, 2010, 09:54 AM EDT
My "Irish-English" American cousin is a top scientist in a German lab where he researches liver cancer. Any discovery he might make will be credited to the GERMANS because it's their lab and there are Germans working there. Usually the end result (discovery) comes from the research done by many scientists, some who are of different ethnic backgrounds. This isn't unusual. The Irish get to take legitimate credit for the discovery, regardless of which scientist is pictured, as I'm sure there were Irish scientists working in the Irish-funded lab. Kudos to all for their work to find a cure for CF.
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Posted by LilPaddy on Aug 11, 2010, 10:05 PM EDT
Why is it that there is an Asain Lady in the photo related to this "IRISH DISCOVERY"??? And don't get off side here... A grandson of mine THAT I LOVE is quarter Asain.... The quistion then is... Were any Irish persons involved in this discovery??? Just wondering....
 


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