NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Study Offers Hope in Cystic Fibrosis

A new aerosol spray may limit devastating lung damage caused by cystic fibrosis, the most common fatal inherited disease in the United States, government researchers reported in Washington. A study involving 17 cystic fibrosis patients found those who sprayed an aerosol containing a protein called alpha 1-antitrypsin into their lungs for a week had sharply lower levels of a lung-damaging enzyme. “It’s a whole new concept for cystic fibrosis,” said Dr. Ronald Crystal of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, who led the study published in the British medical journal The Lancet.