This is a succinct article outlining an additional treatment that can be used by individuals with cystic fibrosis in additional to their currrent treatment that may help them avoid the serious complications of the disease. While it is clear that this treatment has the potential to provide some benefit, the story’s description of the treatment (a thirty minute session inhaling salt water nearly twice as salty as the ocean) leaves no doubt that this is not an entirely pleasant undertaking. The tradeoff is a decision left to the patients, though testing its benefit in infants may be next step in examining utility of the treatment. The only weaknesses of the story include not making clear how widespread is the availability of the treatment and not making clear these were randomized clinical trials (and why that’s important).
An estimate of the treatment cost,
$13/month was obtained from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The absolute benefit, 41% of those using the treatment avoided complications, is compared with
the 16% of those not using the salt water treatment.
The treatment was noted as having potentially limited benefit because the prospect
of adding an additional 30 minutes of treatment to an already extensive treatment regimen could be a burden. No mention was
made of the small (5%) number of patients using the treatment that experienced adverse events.
The article describing the two studies failed to detail the nature of the studies. They were two randomized
clinical trials.
The article explains that cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease and a rare
disorder.
The reporter contacted a clinician from a cystic fibrosis center
that did not appear to have ties to either study. She also included commentsfrom an editorial on the two studies.
The advantage of this treatment is that it may reduce the incidence of some serious
complications of the disease. The article is clear that this treatment does not cure cystic fibrosis and is used in addition
to other therapies, not instead of them.
The treatment is available at the centers actually involved
in the studies; comments from a third clinician directing treatment of individuals with cystic fibrosis but not involved in
the studies indicates that use of this treatment has already been picked up by other groups specializing in cystic fibrosis
care. While this could suggest that other groups specializing in cystic fibrosis care might also be offering this treatment,
the actual availability is not clear.
This article reports on the
use of a novel adjunct treatment in the management of cystic fibrosis
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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