Resources for The ABC's on Bronchiectasis and MAC (NTM)

I read 8% have NTM worldwide, but 50% in USA
And 66% of NTM is MAC
33% have pseudomonas aeruginosa
11% have aspergillus fumigatus

MAC is rarely mentioned in Europe, I had to look
it up when I saw this forum

Please add medical research and/or scholarly links to your numbers as this topic is "Resources for The ABC's on Bronchiectasis and MAC."

most are from the recent German guidelines
for bronchiectase management

(109 pages , .pdf , in German page 23f )
newbies can't post links here, I hope it works now :
no, search for

s2k-Leitlinie Bronchiektasen

I can also post links to the European and British guidelines (later)

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Here is a new and very comprehensive link on all the airway clearance techniques:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK604210/
Thanks to @wolfplanetzero for posting it originally.

Research tip:
If you see a reference like this: [1] you can click on it and it will link you to the source article the author is referring to, click that and the article will open. If it is only a summary, you can look to the right and find a link to the (usually free) full text.

Depends ehat you are taking re shortn as of breath. I have been on what is being called the big 3 for a couple of years and am on the highest dosages. The MAC is no longer getting better nor is it getting worse. So my infectious diseases doctor has also put my on Arikayce which I nebulise. At first it was every day until I couldn’t take it any more so my doctor let stay off it for a week and start again every second day. This was much better. However one of the myriad of side effects of this poison is it causes shortness of breath. Aftoer the first six weeks my sputum came back negative for MAC and it appears that is the way it is staying four months later. So I may finally have success and be off all meds in another month. Here is hoping I never catch this again. That is we’re acupuncture just may help.

Where acupuncture may help

Oh my, I just got reminded that not everyone knows our shorthand!

Here is a copy of my response:
Shame on us for talking in jargon without explaining the terms. Here's a little glossary for you.

NTM is non-tubercular mycobacteria, which is typically slow growing bacteria. The most common causes of our infections are mycobacteria avuim and mycobacteria intracellulare, which we typically abbreviate as MAC (maycobacteria avium complex) - there are dozens of more rare strains as well. The most concerning of those are mycobacteria abscessus (abbreviated M. abscessus) because it is rapid-growing and doesn't respond to the usual "Big 3" antibiotics. Another is M. cheloanae which is usually a hospital-acquired infection dangerous to people with compromised immune systems.

The Big 3 are the three antibiotics typically prescribed for MAC - azithromycin (or more rarely clarithromycin), ethambutol and rifampin.

BE or more rarely BX is Bronchiectasis, a disease of the lungs where the ends of the bronchioles become stretched out, and sort of hard so the don't work properly with the cilia to move mucus out. There is rarely an explicit, known reason why any person "gets" Bronchiectasis, but some contributing factors include repeated lung infections or pneumonia, long term or undertreated asthma or COPD, exposure to irritating substances, and being a carrier of the Cystic Fibrosis gene.

DX stands for diagnosis

ABX stands for antibiotics

I need a reminder like this from time to time - sometimes we resort to abbreviations when we are in a hurry. Or I might be responding to someone very familiar with the terms, forgetting that this is a forum where many people may be reading our conversations!

Please remember that for every person posting here, we have 10 or more others just "listening in" who are unfamiliar with our terminology. Once you spell a term out in a post, feel free to follow up with abbreviations. I think MAC and NTM are fairly well known among our community, but other terminology is more unfamiliar.

And my apologies for being one who does it! I'll try to do better.
Sue

A practical guide to the diagnosis and management of suspected Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Pulmonary Disease (NTM-PD) in the United Kingdom