Cystic fybrosis research breakthrough
Posted November 7, 2012 11:34 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – New hope for people suffering from cystic fibrosis.
Researchers at BC Children’s Hospital have made a breakthrough as they try to find a treatment for the genetic disorder.
“What we’ve found is a new cellular pathway that causes lung damaging inflammation in cystic fibrosis,” says Dr. Stuart Turvey, study lead and a clinician scientist at the hospital’s Child & Family Research Institute.
“We think this is important because it represents a potential new drug target for improving lung disease in people living with CF,” he explains.
Turvey adds “We’re working very hard in the lab everyday to move this forward. The issue with cystic fibrosis is there’s currently no treatment for the inflammation that damages the delicate lung tissues so we will be working to develop a new treatment. We think this is the first step forward in identifying new medicines and molecules that can modify this pathway in a beneficial way.”
Cystic fibrosis is the number one genetic disease affecting young Canadians, affecting one in every 36-hundred babies born in Canada. There is no cure.
