Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that causes the body's lungs to generate a different type of mucus than a non-infected body would. The contaminated lungs will produce mucus that is thick and adhesive which clogs the lungs and leads to an unpleasant and abhorrent lung infection. CF also interferes with the pancreas, disallowing the digestive enzymes from breaking down and absorbing food in the intestine. This can result in low nutrition, feeble growth, excessive sweat production, difficulties in breathing, and sometimes lung disease. When producing extra sweat and mucus, the body loses salt. If too much salt is lost, it can cause abnormal heart rhythms, disturbance of minerals in the blood, and perhaps, shock. Children, as well as Adults can also be affected by this disease. Some afflicted infants usually show symptoms of the disease in its early life stages. Yet, others may experience the horrid and hazardous conditions later in life. The types of infections range differently between each person. There are more than a thousand mutations of the CF gene.

Considering that Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder, it can only be inherited by an individuals DNA. The only possible way to transmit the mutation to the offspring is if both parents are either carriers or already infected by the disease. Once two carriers produce an offspring, there is a twenty-five percent chance that their child will have Cystic Fibrosis; a fifty percent chance that the child will be a carrier of the gene; and a twenty-five percent chance that the child will be a non-carrier. CF is found in nearly one of every three-thousand live births. But more than eighty percent of the patients are diagnosed by age three. Today, nearly forty percent of the diagnosed inhabitants are at the age of eight-teen or older.

Today, there is no cure for Cystic Fibrosis, but if the disease is found in an individual early enough, the patient can be recovered. About 85 to 90% of patients will have problems absorbing nutrients from their intestines. And because enzymes are lost when diagnosed, enzyme supplements are required to prevent bad nutrition and malnutrition. There are two main body parts that can be cared for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis: The lungs and the chest. Lung problems can also be treated, but not cured. Antibiotics and other drugs may loosen the thick mucus in the lungs, but if it fails, a transplant lung may help to extend life. But about four hundred people die each year while waiting for a lung transplant. Also Chest physical therapy is a technique done by vigorous claps on the back and chest to loosen the thick mucus from the lungs. The average lifespan of an individual with CF is about thirty years.

In the U.S alone there are about thirty thousand, who are carriers of the disease, and about 2,500 babies are born with it each year. About five percent of the Americans are unaffected carriers who may discover symptoms later in their lifetime. CF occurs mainly in Caucasians with a Northern European heredity (1 in 3,300), and in some Native Americans (1 in 4,000). Also it is diagnosed in both men and women equally. But the detection rate depends on the person's ethnic background. Basically, the detection rate for the Caucasian population is around ninety percent, ninety seven percent for the Ashkenazi Jewish