Around thirty thousand children and adults have been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis or CF, for short, in the United States. More shocking is that, around the world there are around seventy thousand cases of this disease. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, statistics showed that " about one thousand new cases are diagnosed each year. More than seventy percent are diagnosed by the age of two. More than forty percent of patients are eighteen years or older. In 2006, the predicted median age of survival was thirty-seven years." But with research and treatment, there is a ninety percent life expectancy that babies will live past forty years of age. Patients with pancreatic function will live more

than fifty years. For many patients, it is predicted they will live a long life. But for most CF patients they do not have this same kind of fate.

CYSTIC FIBROSIS'S HISTORY:

Just like most diseases, there are thousands of books, articles, documents on cystic fibrosis. There is theory, that in the 1700's this disease was detected in Germany and Switzerland. Carl von Rokitansky, Karl Landsteiner, and Guido Fanconi, all presented knowledge of the disease in their research. But it wasn't until 1938, when Dorothy Andersen presented her article "Cystic fibrosis of the pancreas and its relation to celiac disease: a clinical and pathological study" that told about her findings of cystic fibrosis pancreas. Her article was published by the American Journal of Disease of Children. Now, cystic fibrosis of the pancreas is now known as cystic fibrosis. The disease has also been called mucoviscoidosis or mucoviscidosis.

DEFINITION, CAUSES, AND SYMPTOMS:

Cystic fibrosis, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, "is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive gene and its protein products causes the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that: clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections, and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food." According to the same article, symptoms can range from: "very salty-tasting skin; persistent coughing, at times with phlegm; frequent lung infections; wheezing or shortness of breath; poor growth/weight gain in spite of a good appetite; and frequent greasy, bulky stools or difficulty in bowel movements.

TESTING:

Tests that can determine if a child or adult will have or will carry the the CF gene.

Generic Carrier

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