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= Cystic Fibrosis =

Cystic fibrosis (CF) affects more than 30,000 children and adults in the United States and 70,000 around the world. It is a hereditary diasease passed down from the parents. It gets worse through time and mainly affects the lungs and digestive system.

Cystic fibrosis causes an unhealthy thick mucus to form. This mucus can clog airways amd cause breathing problems. Also in the digestive tract, mucus clogs inside the pancreas, which leads to the malabsorption of food and nutrients in the intestine. People can be diagnosed with CF by the saltyness of the persons skin. Cystic fibrosis makes the sweat of an afflicted person more salty.

Cystic fibrosis is a chromosone mutation. It is linked to chromsone 7. This causes the absence of a protien hich then cause more think mucus. The lack of of the protien makes less salt and fluid in the airways to help thin the mucus.



Only a doctor can diagnose CF. If you think you or someone you love may have CF, visiting a doctor is a top priority. Here are a few signs and symptoms to look for:
 * Symptoms:**
 * Coughing
 * Salty skin
 * Poor weight gain
 * Diarrhea or bulky, foul-smelling, greasy stools
 * Constipation
 * Wheezing
 * Crackles

**Treatments:**
Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis begins with techniques to help trigger strong coughs that help loosen and clear thick mucus from the airways. Although airway clearence is a big part in treatment, nutrition and drug therapies are also important for children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis. These are also other forms of treatment:
 * Kalydeco™
 * Clearing the Airways
 * Inhaled Medications
 * Antibiotics
 * Other Drugs
 * Implanted Devices
 * Nutrition & Eating Right
 * Alternative Therapies

Kalydeco™ is a pill that helps the defective CTFR protien work at the surface of a cell. This allows salt and fluid to move into the airways helping thin out the mucus. Kalydeco™ is only for people with a ceritan type of mutation of Cystice Fibrosis.

** Statistics: **

 * About 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis are diagnosed each year.
 * More than 70% of patients are diagnosed by age two.
 * More than 45% of the CF patient population is age 18 or older.
 * The predicted median age of survival for a person with CF is in the late 30s.
 * 30,000 children and adults in the United States and 70,000 around the world

Work cited:
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