Sweat Test

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease usually being diagnosed in childhood. lf a baby has the following symptoms - it's important to schedule a sweat test as soon as possible, to ensure that any health issues can be found early and treated quickly.

Symptomes are

Respiratory Signs and Symptoms

• A persistent /repeated cough from childhood .
• Recurrent Wheezing . Breathlessness .
• Exercise intolerance .
• lnflamed nasal passages or a stuffy nose

Digestive Signs and Symptoms

• Foul-smelling, greasy stools from malabsorption .
• Poor weight gain and growth .
• lntestinal blockage, particularly in new-borns (meconium ileus) .
• Severe constipation .
• Rectal prolapse

Complications Of CF :

• Chronic infections & Bronchiectasis .
• Hemoptysis . Pneumothorax .
• Acute exacerbations .
• Respiratory failure .
• Nutritional deficiencies .
• Diabetes etc.

What is done during a Sweat?

• The sweat test measures the amount of chloride excreted in sweat
• There are no needles involved in this test
• At first, pilocarpine and a little electrical stimulation is applied to a small area of the arm or leg to encourage the sweat glands to produce sweat for five minutes. Then special sweat collection device is attached to the clean skin surface in the area where the sweat glands were stimulated for about for 30 minutes.