New Therapy To Alleviate The Symptoms Of Cystic Fibrosis - ShaRe International

Main Category: Cystic Fibrosis
Article Date: 06 Feb 2007 - 11:00 PDT

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ShaRe International Foundation has released details on www.sharktank.org that describes their radically new therapy to alleviate the symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

Cystic Fibrosis affects the respiratory and digestive systems. One in 30 people are carriers of the CF gene and one in 2500 babies are born with cystic fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis produces thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and causes respiratory infections that eventually lead to an early death. The median survival age is 38.6 years.

ShaRe International was started in 1995 by a group of people with CF and parents of kids with CF. CF is a ticking time bomb set to go off and kill the CF sufferer. Waiting for the slow, methodical wheels of the pharmaceutical industry was not an option for many of the people who started ShaRe.

Now, after 10 years of research, ShaRe published a medical article that details a radically new understanding of CF and a therapy that can alleviate many of its worst symptoms. CF is caused by a faulty gene, which prevents a pore from developing in CF cell walls. This pore, called the CFTR, like a door into the cell, allows substances, such a chloride and glutathione, to go in or out of the cell. People with CF lack the CFTR and so substances that would normally go out of the cell are trapped inside.

ShaRe's new therapy makes use of a similar pore, the multidrug resistant protein (MDR), to remove from the cell what normally would go through the CFTR but can't.

"This is probably the best way to normalize these cells, other than to replace the CFTR via gene therapy, which has been a failure thus far", said Alan Himmel, one of the authors of the research. The group believes the therapy should correct the intracellular imbalances, correct pancreatic dysfunction, as well as restore proper immune function in the lungs. In 2006, a patent for the use of a class of compounds known as isothiocyanates was issued to ShaRe, and shortly thereafter, the new research was published in The Journal of Medical Hypotheses.



The new therapy is an oral supplement that contains benzyl isothiocyanate, which can be found in very low concentrations in fruits and vegetables, such as papaya seeds. ShaRe has contracted with an independent clinical research company to conduct a trial to test the new hypothesis. "We are very excited about this therapy. For the first time ever, there may be one pill to take per day, which will correct the imbalances in CF cells. If these imbalances can be corrected with this therapy, it might be possible to eliminate the need for the plethora of medical procedures and hospitalizations these patients have to undergo, beginning at a very early age." said Melanie Childers, the head author and group leader.

To become a participant in the clinical trial, send an Email to jim@sharktank.org. For more information about the therapy, go to www.sharktank.org. To send donations, go to www.sharktank.org.

ShaRe International Foundation

1720 205th place N.E.
Sammamish, WA. 98074

Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 33327
818 Hawthorn Terrace

Office: 954-659-8600
Fax: 954-659-8899
www.sharktank.org
UBI NUMBER 602 028 570
A nonprofit research company
Please send all correspondence to the Ft. Lauderdale address.