I have this marker for inflammation tested every six months. While we do have an inflammatory disease and will always test a little higher on the inflammation side, this can be changed with diet. While Zithro does help inflammation by mediating neutrophilic inflammation, it does not help in all areas of inflammation.
While I am not a doc, I will say that current thinking on ibuprofin therapy is changing. Ibuprofin actually lowers levels of gamma interferon (a chemical essential in keeping the fighting immune response 1 turned on) in our bodies...which cripples our bodies ability to fight 2 very bad bugs...cepacia and the mycobacteria. In fact, a retro active study from Israel and one here in the US, show that all patients (minus one) being treated for mycobacterial disease, were either on high dose ibuprofin or steroids preceeding their infection with this bacteria. Steroids and ibuprofin turn off immune response. Also, one little tidbit, a by product of pseudo actually degrades gamma interferon so if you are currently fightng pseudo, your immune system is already compromised on top of already being compromised by cf.
Also, the only other disease that actually has a problem with cepacia is an inherited disease called granulomatous disease...a disease which affects the immune system...these patients have no gamma interferon. Synthetic gamma interferon is actually given to them to fight 2 killer bugs for them.... Aspergillus and Cepacia. Interesting that 2 bugs which are a menace to us are also a menace to them.
New treatment for resistant forms of aspergillus, mycobacterial disease and cepacia involve adding synthetic gamma interferon to therapy and in most cases the bodies are able to fight the infection.. Since our cf docs are not as educated on this, find alternative ways to increase gamma interferon....garlic.
Back to the topic at hand....If you REALLY want to see this number change for the better, start working on an anti-inflammatory diet plus your zithro...and take NAC or glutathione.
*Zithro is proven to increase gamma interferon in cf patients and keep the fighting TH1 system turned on....b doing this it actually reduces inflammation as well.
*Take NAC because NAC does 2 things: It gives your body the building blocks to make glutathione (r just take glutathione) and it helps cf neutrophils function more effectively.
*Also, if you eat garlic or take pills, you are keeping inflammation down by inducing gamma interferon (proven by taking garlic) and you are inducing nitric oxide which is cidal to mucoid pseudo. keep in mind, garlic may cause a little inflammation at first as it helps fight pseudo.
*Also, probiotics are proven to reduce inflammation....and with the Zithro, you need to add them.
*Also, eat as many GREEN veggies as possible....so, so important for inflammation. All green veggies are alkaline forming...meaning they decrease acidity in the body. Many pathogenic bugs cannot grow in an alkaline environment.
Not to mention, greens actually feed your immune system<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
Also, keep in mind, you can't just do one thing to see huge change. Glutathione needs gamma interferon to work...they are synergistic. Studies with inhaled gamma interferon were not successful in cf for 2 reasons. first, we don't have glutathione to begin with in our lungs... Secondly, gamma interferon doesn't fight extracellular bacteria like pseudo. It is most effective against intracellular bacteria like mycos. My point is that you must make big changes to see big changes. Do many things to get the levels of inflammation down.
My test has come back normal EVERY time since changing diet and treatment strategy. The more inflammation you have, the less likely your body is running at an optimal level. Over the long haul, inflammation is your problem in degenerative disease..... Inflammation with no purpose is possibly our biggest foe.
If you need any of these studies, I summarized over 50 studies having to do with this topic and have it on file.
mandy