Cystic fibrosis Young spouses only died of the disease for a few days

Bad Metabolic Disease: Cystic fibrosis couple dies in quick succession
In the United States, two young people died within a few days. The couple both suffered from the incurable metabolic disease cystic fibrosis. Due to an increased risk of infection they had been advised against meeting. But love weighed more for her. The tragic story made worldwide headlines.

Both spouses suffered from incurable metabolic disease
The two spouses Katie and Dalton Prager from the US were only 25 years old and died within a few days. That the couple had to die was for years foreseeable, because both partners suffered from an incurable metabolic disease. The couple's story also became a worldwide tragedy because they were advised against meeting because of the increased risk of infection. The lovers did not stick to the advice. The two got to know each other over the Internet at the age of 18 when they were hospitalized for cystic fibrosis.

From the USA is reported about the tragic death of a married couple. Both partners contracted cystic fibrosis and died at intervals of only five days. The metabolic disease is not curable. (Image: Zerbor / fotolia.com)

In Germany, about 8,000 cystic fibrosis patients
Cystic fibrosis is an inborn metabolic disease. In Germany alone, around 8,000 people suffer from the incurable disease, especially children and young adults. Characteristic of hereditary disease is a limited functioning of the mucus-forming glands in the body, which forms a very viscous mucus, which affects in particular the lung function, but also the digestive organs and thereby leads to symptoms such as shortness of breath, respiratory tract infections, diarrhea and fat.

Very different course of the disease
The course of the disease is very different and can affect various organs. The severity of the disease can vary enormously. Since the treatment options are better, the sooner the disease is detected, my experts for years, a cystic fibrosis screening for babies is necessary. In the meantime, screening for cystic fibrosis can also be carried out in the so-called neonatal screening.

Average life expectancy at around 40 years
Children with cystic fibrosis can often be treated well. Life expectancy is steadily increasing thanks to advanced therapies and ever earlier diagnosis. Currently, the average life expectancy of cystic fibrosis patients is around 40 years. But not all reach such an age.

Doctors tried to prevent a meeting of the couple
Not even the couple from the USA, whose tragedy reminds many people of the movie "Fate is a lousy traitor". When both Katie and Dalton fell in love, both suffered from cystic fibrosis, but only he with Burkholderia, an infection that significantly speeds cystic fibrosis, reports "CNN." The doctors of the teenager therefore tried to prevent a personal meeting of the two. However, they were not dissuaded and kissed already at their first meeting at the age of 18 years on the mouth.

Two years later, they got married and lived a reasonably normal life. Katie then also infected herself with Dalton's infection. Both received a lung transplant in 2014. They survived for about a year, but Dalton was diagnosed with lymph node cancer, pneumonia, and a viral infection. Katie's health also deteriorated rapidly. In September, the two finally died at intervals of only five days. (Ad)