Now that the colder weather has come upon us in the northern hemisphere, it's time for viruses to make their rounds! Colds and flus can be pretty problematic for people with CF and other respiratory diseases as they can tax our immune systems and cause excessive mucus production, which can then lead to increased vulnerability to bacterial infections and exacerbations.

​Although there are very few tools that conventional technomedicine has for fighting viruses like colds and flus, there are many, many medicinal herbs that have antiviral activity and many more that stimulate the immune system to fight the infections ourselves. In this article, I will discuss medicinal herbs and foods that can help us prevent viral infections and hasten our recovery when they do come. 

This post is a continuation of my series focusing on individual herbs. In herbalism, we call in-depth documentation of individual herbs "monographs", and we call a compendium of monographs a "materia medica". My personal materia medica is over 300 pages long by now, so I'd like to provide some of the information I've gleaned about specific herbs that I think the CF community will greatly benefit from. So far we've covered astragalus and elecampane. Today I'd like to discuss one of the most revered medicinal herbs in Chinese Medicine: reishi mushroom. 

I've been meaning to write a post about lung collapses for a few years now, and I guess I needed another one (lung collapse, that is) to encourage me to finally get it done. A lung collapse, or pneumothorax, is not uncommon in CFers with advanced lung disease. I've had several over the last four years and two surgeries to correct them. Here I will discuss what a pneumothorax is, what the causes are, what the common interventions are, and describe my experience of those interventions. 

​The following article is a guest post by Jackie Waters, owner of hyper-tidy.com and someone with personal experience overcoming chronic pain. 

Chronic pain is defined as any pain that lasts over 6 months. Over 100 million people worldwide are suffering from chronic pain and if you are one of them, finding relief is your greatest concern. Many people jump to alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain through the use of prescription drugs. However, the repeated use of these pills can lead to an even bigger problem. Here are a few lifestyle changes and tips to help you minimize your chronic pain and restore your quality of life.

My opinions on the use of antibiotics for chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis have changed a lot in the last several years. This is predominantly due to my personal experiences, successes, and mistakes. For several years, especially around the time that I started this website, I had a very antagonistic view of antibiotics. I saw them as a necessary evil that had to be avoided as much as possible. I made the personal choice to suffer through many months of infection, fatigue, and heavy mucus loads in order to minimize my exposure to this class of drugs. I did this for two major reasons: minimizing the risk of developing antibiotic resistance, and mitigating the impact that excessive use of antibiotics has on the gut microbiome. For about four years I made the choice to wait as long as possible between hospitalizations, and also to do without oral antibiotics for longer and longer periods of time. Upon reflection, I don't think this was the best choice for me, as I lost lung function during that period and developed some serious and irreversible lung damage. It's not clear whether or not this damage would have developed anyway, even if I was more aggressively using antibiotics. But in the last year or so I have changed tactics and I believe my health has benefitted. Here, I will describe my experiences and review why I made these changes.

I must be absolutely clear: this is not medical advice. I am not advocating for anyone to do what I did or to believe that my experiences are ultimately true and therefore applicable to everyone. This is only a reflection on what I have personally experienced. If others can learn from my mistakes in order to benefit themselves, then that's great. But as I mention in many places on this website, every person's health is very different, and what may be useful for me may not be useful for someone else. 

Inflammation is a huge factor in the disease processes of cystic fibrosis. Some studies have shown that faulty CFTR mutations may directly result in inadequate quenching of radical oxygen species (ROS) or excessive release of other inflammatory compounds like cytokines [1,2]. In addition, our burden of chronic infection and gastrointestinal complications contribute secondary sources of  inflammation. Chronic inflammation can lead to both localized and systemic issues. Localized inflammation in the lungs can lead to deficient and/or over-reactive immune responses, bronchitis, scarification and airway remodeling, allergies/asthma/hyper-reactive airway diseases, hemoptysis, pleurisy (inflammation of the pleura), and worsened infection. Localized inflammation in the gut can lead to reflux/GERD, esophagitis, gastritis, pancreatitis, gallbladder issues, liver issues, food sensitivities, malabsorption, autoimmune issues of the intestines, gut infections, general indigestion, and excessive mucus production in both the guts and the lungs (by vagal reflex). Systemic inflammation can cause insulin resistance, body pain, arthritis, achey joints and muscles, fever, fatigue, increased risk for autoimmunity, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. 

Hi friends. I recently taught a class on using herbs in acute and chronic respiratory infections. Here is the class description: 

Prepare for winter by enhancing your understanding of how respiratory infections develop and how herbal, nutritional, and lifestyle interventions can make a big difference regarding prevention and recovery. In this class we will discuss how to use herbs to address a wide variety of respiratory complaints including colds and flus, acute and chronic lung infections (bacterial, fungal, and viral), bronchitis, as well as chronic sinus irritation and infection. Our focus will be on moderate to severe respiratory illnesses. Students will gain deeper knowledge of how to use natural means to combat infections in order to minimize the need for use of antibiotics, steroids, and other pharmaceuticals.

Below is the lecture, which is split in two parts. I've also added a slide show of my power point slides. Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions or would like to share your own experiences.