3 ms·

You're saying then that women with CF have a persistent, chronic, but undiagnosable infection. Note that if, as a medical researcher, one managed to identify a

by Fomite 8y ago

You're saying then that women with CF have a persistent, chronic, but undiagnosable infection. Note that if, as a medical researcher, one managed to identify an underlying causal agent for CF, that would be career changing. Also, your vaginal dryness theory is only true if CF-related discharge works as a responsive lubricant. That could be, as you suggest, due to a difference in kind, but it could also be a change in composition, differential overproduction, or a complex interplay of several other factors.

DoreenMichele 8y ago
Medicine agrees that all people with CF are chronically infected. That part is not some novel theory on my part. I don't have a vaginal dryness theory. My point is that CF is genetic and impacts all cells of the body. The way it works vaginally and in the lungs ought to be consistent. Women with CF consistently report vaginal dryness. They also report vaginal discharge. This discharge appears to not be mucus, given the rest of their testimony. The reports of women with CF concerning their reproductive tract should cast some light on lung function and is not consistent with prevailing theories that people with CF are "drowning in their own mucus."
- Fomite 8y ago
  There's a difference between chronically infected (which is true) and that the source of CF is an infection, which is the part of your theory that's unsupported. "the way it works vaginally and in the lungs ought to be consistent." - not necessarily, and especially not when you're describing symptoms (vaginal dryness resulting in uncomfortable sex), because the mucous of your lungs and sexual lubrication serve very different purposes. And other symptoms of CF in women, such as more difficulties conceiving, are consistent with mucus overproduction. The discharge might not be mucus, but that doesn't mean that's not the root of what CF is doing.
  - DoreenMichele 8y ago
    and that the source of CF is an infection, which is the part of your theory that's unsupported. I don't think I've said that anywhere and that's not what I'm trying to say. CF is a genetic disorder. It's root cause is a malfunctioning cell channel, the CFTR, that is defective due to a genetic defect. But I do think a lot of what we think of as CF is really a consequence of being sick and malnourished your entire life. If those issues can be addressed, outcomes can change.
  - toast0 8y ago
    Having more difficulties conceiving is also consistent with uncomfortable sex. I found this article [1] that seems pretty consistent with the dehydrated mucus hypothesis. I don't know if it's reputable, and I only read the summary, because it quickly got over my head. [1] https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/89752 https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/89752
    - Fomite 8y ago
      "Having more difficulties conceiving is also consistent with uncomfortable sex." - Difficulties exist in women with CF who don't report pain during sex.
      - DoreenMichele 8y ago
        I did not realize the degree to which I suffered vaginal dryness until I was like 40 or something. Vaginal dryness was my "normal." I didn't realize it was quite abnormal. I generally did not have pain during sex because I got married at 19 to my "high school sweetheart" and he and I accommodated my vaginal dryness without making a big deal of it and I didn't realize how much we were doing to accommodate it until after I finally had a diagnosis and was getting divorced. It was our "normal" and we were oblivious to the fact that it wasn't normal at all because neither of us had much experience prior to getting together when we were both 17. So I will suggest that lack of reports of pain during sex may say more about a woman's sex partner than about how much vaginal dryness she is experiencing.
        Fomite 8y ago
        That's possible - but there's also a perfectly explainable mechanism of action (thickened cervical mucus) that doesn't involve you dismissing the experience of other women who don't report vaginal dryness as a problem but do statistically experience lower rates of successful conception.
        DoreenMichele 8y ago
        See, I wasn't dismissing anything. I post as openly female on an overwhelmingly male forum. I routinely try to add information to the discussion that seems unlikely to occur to most men. I said in another comment -- one you replied to, so presumably you read it -- that reproductive issues in CF are likely more complicated than just this one factor, so I think this characterization of my remark is completely unfounded.

by Fomite 8y ago

DoreenMichele 8y ago

Medicine agrees that all people with CF are chronically infected. That part is not some novel theory on my part. I don't have a vaginal dryness theory. My point is that CF is genetic and impacts all cells of the body. The way it works vaginally and in the lungs ought to be consistent. Women with CF consistently report vaginal dryness. They also report vaginal discharge. This discharge appears to not be mucus, given the rest of their testimony. The reports of women with CF concerning their reproductive tract should cast some light on lung function and is not consistent with prevailing theories that people with CF are "drowning in their own mucus."

Fomite 8y ago
There's a difference between chronically infected (which is true) and that the source of CF is an infection, which is the part of your theory that's unsupported. "the way it works vaginally and in the lungs ought to be consistent." - not necessarily, and especially not when you're describing symptoms (vaginal dryness resulting in uncomfortable sex), because the mucous of your lungs and sexual lubrication serve very different purposes. And other symptoms of CF in women, such as more difficulties conceiving, are consistent with mucus overproduction. The discharge might not be mucus, but that doesn't mean that's not the root of what CF is doing.
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  and that the source of CF is an infection, which is the part of your theory that's unsupported. I don't think I've said that anywhere and that's not what I'm trying to say. CF is a genetic disorder. It's root cause is a malfunctioning cell channel, the CFTR, that is defective due to a genetic defect. But I do think a lot of what we think of as CF is really a consequence of being sick and malnourished your entire life. If those issues can be addressed, outcomes can change.
- toast0 8y ago
  Having more difficulties conceiving is also consistent with uncomfortable sex. I found this article [1] that seems pretty consistent with the dehydrated mucus hypothesis. I don't know if it's reputable, and I only read the summary, because it quickly got over my head. [1] https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/89752 https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/89752
  - Fomite 8y ago
    "Having more difficulties conceiving is also consistent with uncomfortable sex." - Difficulties exist in women with CF who don't report pain during sex.
    - DoreenMichele 8y ago
      I did not realize the degree to which I suffered vaginal dryness until I was like 40 or something. Vaginal dryness was my "normal." I didn't realize it was quite abnormal. I generally did not have pain during sex because I got married at 19 to my "high school sweetheart" and he and I accommodated my vaginal dryness without making a big deal of it and I didn't realize how much we were doing to accommodate it until after I finally had a diagnosis and was getting divorced. It was our "normal" and we were oblivious to the fact that it wasn't normal at all because neither of us had much experience prior to getting together when we were both 17. So I will suggest that lack of reports of pain during sex may say more about a woman's sex partner than about how much vaginal dryness she is experiencing.
      - Fomite 8y ago
        That's possible - but there's also a perfectly explainable mechanism of action (thickened cervical mucus) that doesn't involve you dismissing the experience of other women who don't report vaginal dryness as a problem but do statistically experience lower rates of successful conception.
        DoreenMichele 8y ago
        See, I wasn't dismissing anything. I post as openly female on an overwhelmingly male forum. I routinely try to add information to the discussion that seems unlikely to occur to most men. I said in another comment -- one you replied to, so presumably you read it -- that reproductive issues in CF are likely more complicated than just this one factor, so I think this characterization of my remark is completely unfounded.