For individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) who know by personal experience the benefits of exercise in treating their condition, Courtney Wheatley, Ph.D. agrees with you and is working to demonstrate exercise is medicine for CF.
Courtney grew up in Canada and now works as a Senior Research Fellow at Dr. Bruce Johnson’s Cardiopulmonary and Performance Clinical Research Lab at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.
During her doctoral studies, she got interested in lung fluid regulation–the study of how water and ions move in and out of the lungs. The topic may sound esoteric, but for CF patients, lung fluid regulation has a real-world impact on wellbeing and quality of life.
“The lungs need to be kept moist, if too wet or dry there are pathological consequences,” she says, “we now know that abnormal ion and water flux is a fundamental process observed in CF, congestive heart failure, and other pulmonary disorders.”
This insight has led Courtney to explore ways to moisten the dry, sticky mucus found in the lungs of CF patients. There are drugs that can help treat the symptoms, such as hypertonic saline, enzymes to break down mucus, albuterol nebulizers and inhalers.
There are medical devices such as the vests used for highly effective chest wall oscillation, also known as vest therapy used to help break up the mucus and stimulate its clearance.
All of those are very welcome additions to the arsenal to fight the burden of CF. The one most important intervention for patients with CF however doesn’t depend on pricey products and overly sophisticated therapies: It’s good ole’ exercise.
“Research is now really zeroing in on how patients can tangibly improve their quality of life, maintain pulmonary function and live longer through exercise,” says doctor Wheatley.
To complement or to substitute?
“When a CF patient goes to a clinical assessment four times a year, exercise tests are usually not done. That’s a major shortcoming in standard practice,” Courtney explains.
“An individual’s aerobic capacity has been shown to be as good as or even better than pulmonary function at predicting how well a patient will do.”
Of course, you don’t have to have CF to benefit from being fit. “Exercise has an anti-inflammatory benefit, strengths the heart, muscles that help us breathe and skeletal muscles, and aids in mucus clearance from the airways.”
That’s great for any individual, but vital if you live with CF. Courtney advocates finding an activity you enjoy so you will stick with it and not see exercise as a chore. Interval training is a fine option that “doesn’t overwhelm the body, but stresses it to a certain point”. Regardless of the exercise mode, “it’s about always working hard enough to stress the body so it can adapt and become stronger, just not the same muscles all the time.”
A huge body of research agrees with these findings. However, the exact “medicinal” value we can place on physical activity is not yet known. For instance, two questions that many CF patients have is: Can you substitute one time-consuming vest therapy session a day with a certain level of fitness? What the right amount or dose of exercise that would allow you to risk this sort of change in your treatment regimen?
Stay tuned for part 2 of this hot debate, same time tomorrow!
About the Author:
Courtney Wheatley, PhD is a Senior Research Fellow at the Cardiopulmonary and Performance Research Lab of Bruce Johnson at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ. Courtney did her dissertation on the Endogenous and Exogenous Regulation of Exhaled Ions in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis, and is continuing that research interest in showing the exercise is medicine for individuals with cystic fibrosis and understanding the regulation of the transport mechanisms for ion and water flux in the alveolar epithelium by exogenous and endogenous compounds with application to mediating the improper ion and water movement that is the fundamental pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis, congestive heart failure, and other pulmonary disorders.
Courtney got her B.S. in both Chemistry and Biology from Iowa Wesleyan College and her Ph.D from the University of Arizona. As an exercise addict, Courtney feels blest to have been able to tie her passion for exercise with her research, starting with her doctoral work and now working with the Cystic Life group and in the lab of Dr. Johnson.
PatientWorthy is teaming up with CysticLife.org to spread awareness of CF and support their collaboration with the Mayo Clinic for a community-driven research project investigating the benefits of exercise for CF patients. If you’re interested in contributing to the fund or want to become a CysticLife member, drop by CysticLife.org or donate here today! Don’t forget to share this post!
