I wish the article had a clearer explanation of the mechanism of the condition. Most genetic disorders involve a missequenced protein. From what I gather, the defective protein is typically a thing the body intends to use as a tool at the cellular level, but now you have either a defective tool doing a lame job or a missing tool.<p>Anecdotally, cystic fibrosis also predisposes people to bloat, usually concentrated in the belly. CF involves a defect in a cell channel that handles trafficking of certain molecules into and out of the cell. There are a variety of different defects in this channel, depending on the alleles involved.<p>I have a diagnosis of <i>atypical cystic fibrosis. </i> I have chronic belly bloat. It used to be far worse and is also accompanied by fluid retention in the legs and lower body.<p>Consuming hot peppers in combination with walking a great deal has helped to reduce my fluid retention. I read up on capsaicin, the active ingredient, and also spoke with a man with a PhD in chemistry about it. Capsaicin opens a different cell channel and flushes fluid from the cell.<p>Lymph is circulated in part by the blood. It is basically the clear part of blood, minus blood cells. It is called <i>interstitial fluid</i> when it is out in the tissues. Muscle action causes it to be moved back to the blood system at much higher rates than the normal resting rate.<p>So it seems to me that if you are "leaking" lymph that has high levels of protein in it, something has gone wrong with the mechanism involved in returning lymph to the blood vessels. The protein probably does not come from nutrients consumed. It probably comes from the muscle tissue.<p>A diseased liver can cause damage to the portal vein. The liver filters the blood, removing toxic wastes. I imagine a disease that causes lymph to contain high levels of protein would put enormous stress on the liver. It would not be able to keep up with the filtering process.<p>The lungs filled with fluid because the body treats lungs and gut as interchangeable systems to some degree. When you are at altitude, you cannot breathe out wastes fast enough, so your body dumps them via urination. The lungs and gut both interact with the body via the blood.<p>I would really be interested in knowing if they have identified a particular cell channel or similar. To me, the explanation that this condition causes high pressure in the portal vein and this causes lymph backup makes no sense. It seems to me the high pressure in the portal vein would be a secondary or tertiary consequence of whatever mechanism is causing lymph to accumulate.<p>/thinking out loud in public after midnight, no doubt a terrible mistake