Why People with Cystic Fibrosis are Using EWOT to mprove Health and Wellness

People with cystic fibrosis (CF) are turning to alternate health practices to improve their health and quality of life.  One of these modalities is exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT).  In this article, we are going to delve into CF and how EWOT can improve quality of life for people challenged with CF. 

What is Cystic Fibrosis?

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that changes a protein in the body (CFTR protein) that causes mucus, normally slippery and lubricating, to become thick and sticky.  There are 40,000 people in the USA and over 100,000 people worldwide who have CF.  While CF used to commonly cause death in childhood, people with CF now have an average lifespan of 61 years.

While the prognosis for people who have CF has improved, people with CF do still deal with many symptoms and challenges, including sinus and lung infections, muscle and joint pain, inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), and clubbing of the fingers and toes due to less oxygen reaching the extremities.

Common medical treatments for CF include antibiotics to prevent lung infections, anti-inflammatory drugs including NSAIDs and steroids, bronchodilators, mucus thinners and even a new class of drugs that help the CFTR protein work better.   Additionally, people with CF often use oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation and even physical therapy and breathing techniques to improve their body’s ability to take in oxygen.  Lastly, some people with CF require lung and or liver transplants due to the effects of CF over time.

The Hypoxia-Inflammation-Infection Cycle

The medical term for low-oxygen levels is hypoxia.  When mucus sticks to the sinuses and lungs of someone with CF it reduces the ability of the lungs to transport oxygen to the blood resulting lower oxygen throughout the body.  It is well known that hypoxia induces inflammation.  In fact, you cannot have inflammation unless hypoxia exists.  In people with CF, it is well established that hypoxia causes inflammation and infection that is a key factor leading to progression of the condition.

When our cells become hypoxic, they switch from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration.  Anaerobic respiration only produces about 6% of the energy per glucose molecule as aerobic respiration, and it produces a massive amount of metabolic waste products, like lactic acid, that build up inside the body, causing further damage.  And, because the cells are in a lower energy state, they do not have the energy needed to repair. 

Cells that are damaged by chronic inflammation and excessive lactic acid are weaker and more susceptible to infections.  The infection then generates a further inflammatory response from the immune system, causing more collateral damage to nearby cells and tissues and further reducing oxygen levels.  And in people with CF, hypoxia causes CFTR protein dysfunction to be amplified and increased oxygenation is critical to reducing these impacts.

Oxygen Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis

Oxygen therapy involves breathing higher concentrations of oxygen.  At sea-level, oxygen makes up 21% of the air we breathe.  Medical oxygen therapy provides oxygen in the 90% - 100% oxygen, making each breath oxygen-rich. 

Oxygen therapy has long been a standard of care for people with advanced CF to improve quality of life.  Research has shown that people who use oxygen therapy have better attendance at work and school, demonstrating its ability to improve well-being and quality of life.  And for people with CF using oxygen therapy, they can attest to how it improves their quality of life.

In 2019, researchers showed that using hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), paired with antibiotics killed more of the infectious bacteria known to cause lung infections in people with CF than antibiotics alone.

About EWOT

EWOT is very similar to HBOT.  In HBOT, we use high pressures to force more oxygen through the lung membrane.  In EWOT, we use the synergies of exercise to pull more oxygen through the lungs.  When we start to exercise, our body goes through a series of physiological changes to allow us to supply more oxygen to our cells and support the energy production needed to continue to exercise.  These changes include deeper breathing, which increases the surface area of our lungs exposes to oxygen and the thinning of our lung membrane to allow more oxygen in (and more carbon dioxide out).  Additionally, our heart pumps faster and deeper, increasing the blood flow, our blood vessels dilate to carry more blood, and our systolic blood pressure increases to help push oxygen from our blood vessels and into the cells where it is needed.  EWOT offers most of the same benefits as HBOT at a fraction of the time investment and at a fraction of the cost.  A 15-minute EWOT session can deliver as much oxygen as 90 minutes in a hard-shell hyperbaric chamber or 6.5 hours in a home-based soft-shell chamber. 

EWOT for Cystic Fibrosis

People with CF often experience exercise intolerance.  Exercising with supplemental oxygen is not new to CF.  Adding supplemental oxygen has been shown to allow people with CF to exercise longer and there are plenty of stories about how exercising with oxygen has improved quality of life.

Unlike the common methods of adding oxygen to exercise, EWOT uses a large reservoir and mask so that every breath is a full 93% oxygen.  When using a nasal canula with 3 lpm (liters per minute) or even 10 lpm of oxygen, that becomes greatly diluted.  When a person is doing a cardiovascular exercise, they can easily use 50 – 60 lpm of oxygen.  So, if you are breathing 10 lpm of 93% oxygen, it is diluted to about 35% oxygen.  Breathing 93% oxygen will maximize exercise tolerance and the benefits of EWOT.

People with CF who use EWOT often report improved exercise tolerance, more energy, better sleep, reduced pains and inflammation, and stronger immune systems.  These benefits are often accompanied with consummate improvements in reported quality of life and mental health.

It has been reported in the literature that increased lung oxygenation can awaken dormant infectious bacteria like pseudomonas aeruginosa and makes them suseptible to antibiotics.  You may want to speak with a medical provider to determine if adding an antibiotic such as tobramycin could be beneficial to accelerate the clearance of those bacteria from lung tissues when starting EWOT to accelerate the benefits.

Conclusions on EWOT for Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a challenging health condition which can lead to a variety of health challenges.  Some of the largest challenges results from low-oxygen levels driving increased inflammation and higher likelihood of infection.

Oxygen therapy is a common treatment for people with CF and leads to higher quality of life for many.  EWOT is an innovative modality that can help reduce inflammation, increase tissue oxygenation, improve cellular detoxification of metabolic waste products, improve exercise intolerance, increase energy levels and promote a deeper sleep.  When paired with antibiotics, it may also lead to the increased clearance of dormant bacteria known to cause common lung infections in people with CF.

About One Thousand Roads EWOT

One Thousand Roads EWOT was started with the mission of helping people with chronic health conditions improve their health and wellness through the power of exercise with oxygen therapy.  Our founder, Brad Pitzele, used EWOT to help him overcome numerous health challenges and founded One Thousand Roads to offer high-quality, affordable EWOT so more people could benefits from power of EWOT.

If you are ready to take the next step, we offer EWOT Systems that are right for you and the support and customer service you need both before and after the purchase.