The airways of people with cystic fibrosis are more acidic than those of healthy people, making it difficult for them to fight bacteria, says Nature.
The human respiratory tract is not a friendly place for bacteria and they are constantly threatened by coughing, and the immune system is only waiting for the pathogenic microbe. In the case of people with genetically determined disease – cystic fibrosis – the conditions for the development of infection are much more favorable. There is a thick secretion in their airways. No wonder respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of disease and death in people with cystic fibrosis.
Scientists at the University of Iowa, working on an animal model of the disease – pigs with a mutation in the CFTR protein that creates a chloride channel in the cell membrane – found that the mutation led to an acidic reaction in the airways, making it difficult to fight infection.
Moreover, a common baking soda solution (which has many kitchen uses) administered to pigs through the respiratory tract restored the proper pH in the lungs and caused the bacteria to be eliminated almost as effectively as in healthy animals.
The authors of the studies reserve, however, that they are at an early stage – therefore, they advise patients not to take soda inhalations on their own, claiming that it may harm them. (PAP)
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