PTC Therapeutics Announces Data Supporting Cough Frequency as a New Outcome Measure in Evaluating Treatments for Cysti...( - Findings Show Cystic Fibrosis Pati...),Health

- Findings Show Cystic Fibrosis Patients Cough More Than 600 Times Per Day

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SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced new data suggesting that the quantification of cough frequency may offer a clinically meaningful outcome measure in cystic fibrosis (CF). Cough is one of the most prominent and burdensome disease-related symptoms in CF. According to data presented today at the 2008 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society, patients with CF cough a remarkable 324 to 1,569 times per day, with an average of 643 coughs per day. In comparison, healthy individuals generally cough fewer than 16 times in an entire day, according to the European Respiratory Journal (Hsu 1994).

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"Cough is one of the major symptomatic manifestations of the underlying disease process in CF," stated Eitan Kerem, M.D., head of the Department of Pediatrics and Cystic Fibrosis Center, Hadassah University Hospital. "Chronic excessive coughing is a burden on CF patients and a source of anxiety for caregivers and loved ones. Frequent and intense coughing has a profound effect on the overall quality of life of the patient -- compromising work, school, sleep and social interactions."

CF is among the most common life-threatening genetic disorders worldwide and affects nearly 70,000 adults and children. Patients with CF lack the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, a chloride ion channel that maintains proper hydration of epithelial cells in the lungs, pancreas, and liver. Loss of the CFTR protein leads to chronic airway inflammation in association with obstruction and mucopurulent secretions, all of which provoke persistent coughing. While there are approved palliative treatments for CF, clinical de
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