Cystic Fibrosis

Activ8rlives is being trialled in collaboration with Dr. Andres Floto and Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire UK, to help volunteers with Cystic Fibrosis track their activity, wellness, weight and body composition, lung function, oxygen saturation levels and virulence of lung infection, while they are at home.

We are developing a home based rapid and quantitative test for bacterial respiratory infections in patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and are now scaling up trials of the prototype tests to make it possible for CF patients (and their doctors) to monitor their health at home using the Activ8rlives online platform.

The company has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of quantifying the levels of key biomarkers in sputum donated by Cystic Fibrosis patients as a way of predicting the onset of chest infections known clinically as ‘exacerbations’ (patent applied for).

The tests can be used to give both clinicians and patients 7 to 10 days advanced warning before an exacerbation and when commercialised, could lead to a reduction in hospital admissions and length of stay as well as improving healthcare outcomes for patients with the condition.

To add further complications to the ongoing management of CF, it is not possible to predict which antibiotics will be clinically effective when an exacerbation does occur. Doctors are forced to rely on monitoring the patient’s response after 5-7 days to see if the patient is recovering or not.

The new test will be objective and show early changes in levels of key biomarkers for each patient, which gives doctors and patients the chance to identify when a course of treatment is ineffective and requires a change in madication, speeding up recovery time and reducing potential lung damage caused by recurrent exacerbations.

The CF volunteers are also using the other devices for health self monitoring to give themselves and their clinical team an accurate assessment of their state of wellness. It is hoped that through this programme of home based self monitoring for health with remote eMentoring, that those with CF and other long term health conditions, can stay well for longer periods and reduce the number and duration of stays in specialist clinics.

Notes about Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common inherited disease in the USA and EU. It causes the body to produce thick mucus, which affects the lungs and digestive system in particular.

Symptoms of CF can include a troublesome cough, repeated chest infections, prolonged diarrhoea and poor weight gain. These symptoms are not unique to CF but it is a complex disease that affects many different organs.

Lungs

It is common for people with CF to experience some problems with lung function, although not everyone is affected. A combination of physiotherapy and medication can help control lung infections and prevent the build up of mucus that damages the lung. To avoid the risk of cross infection people with CF do not meet or come into close contact with one another.

Digestive system

CF affects the pancreas because a build up of thick, sticky mucus blocks the ducts, reducing the amount of insulin produced and stopping digestive enzymes from reaching the intestines to aid digestion. This can cause malnutrition, leading to poor growth and physical weakness.

Medication can help compensate for the failure of the pancreas, such as digestive enzymes that most people with CF take with each meal to help digest food.

For more information about Cystic Fibrosis, contact the CF Trust (UK) , Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and CF Foundation (USA).