How Cystic Fibrosis ( Cf ) Is A Serious Disease?

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.

The CFTR gene creates a protein that controls the movement of salt and water in and out of your body 's cells. In people who have cystic fibrosis, the gene forms a protein that does not work well. This causes thick, sticky mucus and high concentrations of salt in the sweat.

Cystic Fibrosis cannot be developed or contracted it is something you’re born with. CF is a recessive disease, it occurs when a child inherits one defective copy of the gene from each parent. This gene mutation is responsible for cystic fibrosis. ("Cystic fibrosis Canada," 2011) This gene is known as the CFTR gene ("www.medincinet.com," 1996). Reference Figure 3. The “gene makes a protein that controls the movement of salt and water in and out of your body's cells. In people who have cystic fibrosis, the gene makes a protein that doesn't work right. This causes the thick, sticky mucus” ("www.medincinet.com," 1996).

The signs and symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis are going to involve the respiratory, gastrointestinal, reproductive and occasionally sweat glands. Usually we will see symptoms as early as birth as well as later in life. The very firsts signs of CF are noticed by parents on a new born child, when the child does not pass his stool(meconium) as well as a salty sweat in the forehead when kissed. (Health, 2013) Some relative sign and symptoms of the respiratory system include: cough, thick sputum, lung infections and sinus infections. The digestive system symptoms are a result of mucus blocking ducts and tubes. Constipation, stomach pain, Diarrhea, foul-smelling, greasy stools and poor weight gain are some of the main sings of CF. In the reproductive system females will have a hard time conceiving due to mucus in the cervix whereas males are considered infertile because they are born without a vas deferens tube. Other common signs and symptoms mostly seen with patient who have CF are salty sweat, fatigue, weakness, increased heart rate and decreased blood pressure.

I along with my group members chose the topic of Cystic Fibrosis. This is a disease that affects roughly 70,000 children worldwide. The first definitive description of Cystic Fibrosis was found in a child by Dr. Dorothy Anderson in 1938. There had been earlier sightings of the disease as far back as the late 1800s. It was denoted by the taste of salt on a Childs forehead when kissed by a parent. This idea was proven when Paul di Sant'Agnese proved that there was an increased salt excretion within patients who suffered from Cystic Fibrosis. With this break through the ability for doctors to be able to diagnose children became a lot easier and got rid of a large number of invasive tests that were not as effective. In 1985 the medical

The symptoms that infants or kids may have if they have cystic fibrosis is nasal polyps, prolonged jaundice, severe malnutrition, and meconium ileus (bowel obstruction). The symptoms that are found in infants, children and adults are production of bulky foul smelling stools, chronic respiratory infections, constant coughing, nasal polyps, and persistent coughing yellow and green sputum. Other symptoms are coughing blood, recurrent: pneumonias, wheezing episodes. There are a bunch more symptoms these are just what most

Cystic Fibrosis is a defective gene that causes the mucus to become thick and build up in the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. This is a genetic disorder caused by a defective gene. People that have Cystic Fibrosis have two copies of the recessive Cystic Fibrosis gene (one from each parent). When parents are both carriers their children’s chances are 25% have Cystic Fibrosis, 50% will be a carrier, and 25% will not have Cystic Fibrosis. This causes lung infections and enzymes not to be digested so that nutrients and fats are not absorbed. People are at risk for having lung infection and it stops the absorption of food and key nutrients.

In the respiratory system, the mucus causes breathing difficulties, frequent respiratory infections and eventually permanent lung damage. The mucus builds up providing bacteria with a place to flourish. The most common infection comes from a bacterium called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The body's response to P. aeruginosa includes inflammation, which causes episodes of intense breathing problems (Pseudomonas Genome Project, 1998). Normally the body will get rid of excess mucus by coughing before it's a problem but with the thick mucus involved in CF the body has a harder time to get rid of the thicker mucus. Lung disease is the usual cause of death in most patients (National Institutes of Health, 1995). In the digestive system, mucus can block the supply of enzymes used to break down food. The result of the blockage of such enzymes is malnutrition. The patient will have an excessive appetite but will not experience any weight gain. What is also evident is a failure to grow, CF was often misdiagnosed vaguely as "failure to thrive" when physicians didn't know the reason for this poor growth. Sweating is also a problem in people with CF. One of the basic defects in CF is the faulty transport of sodium and chloride (salt). People with CF lose excessive amounts of salt when they sweat. This causes the natural balance of salt in the body to be off balance, which may cause abnormal heart rhythms (National Institutes of Health, 1995).

Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease caused by a mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. This mutation causes problems with the apical membrane CFTR protein which when working to its full potential regulates the sodium and chloride intake in epithelial cells (Eitan Kerem et al. 2005). It affects about 70,000 people in the world and in the UK it is said to affect 1 in every 2,500 children. The disease causes the apical membrane CFTR protein to not be able to transport the sodium and chloride it needs to, this can have a huge effect on multiple organ systems, mainly the respiratory system. The most common clinical problems Cystic Fibrosis causes are pulmonary damage

Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that affects the body in many ways throughout the patient's life. Newborns with Cystic Fibrosis may experience delayed growth, inability to gain weight, and salty-tasting skin ("Cystic," umm.edu 1). Older patients may be infertile, have recurring pancreatitis, and respiratory problems ("Cystic," umm.edu 2). Considering that these are just symptoms involving age, the full spectrum of ailments that afflict a patient with Cystic Fibrosis is far more taxing on a patient.

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in a gene called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). The inheritance pattern is autosomal recessive. This means, to have symptoms of CF, you must have two defective CFTR genes, by inheriting a mutant copy of the CFTR gene from both your mother and your father. If you inherit a single defective CFTR gene from either your mother or your father, you are a “carrier” of the disease, but do not show symptoms, since it is a recessive gene. However, you could pass the gene onto your child and they could end up having cystic fibrosis, even if you do not have it. The CFTR gene makes a protein that controls how much salt and water move in and out of the body’s cells.

Cystic fibrosis is “an inherited, progressive multi-system disease that begins in early childhood,” with the areas most severely compromised being the lungs and digestive tract (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010, p. 60). Patients suffer from gradual airflow blockage and regular respiratory illness due to an inability to remove secretions from their airways (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010, p. 60). The condition results from a mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, and is associated with large secretions of viscous mucus from the mucous glands (Giddings, 2009), causing blockages in the pancreatic and hepatic ducts (VanPutte, Regan, Russo, Seeley, Stephens & Tate, 2014). This subsequently causes blockages in both the lungs and pancreas, which often leads to highly critical digestive issues. (Giddings, 2009). Other symptoms include high amounts of salt present in the patient’s

Cystic Fibrosis is a medical condition in which a thick and sticky mucus progressively covers organs, causing them to malfunction. This disease is commonly known for affecting the lungs and bronchi, however there are many more risks the disease brings to organs. Not only does Cystic Fibrosis bring risk to organs, it runs risks to all people. Everyone carries two CFTS genes, however the genetic disease only occurs hereditarily in offspring of two carriers holding damaged CFTS genes. Cystic fibrosis brings a fragile lifestyle to its carriers, and to the tissue and organs of carries. Scientists are trying to find good in the commonly known as “Bad” gene. However, it takes genetic break down to understand the good and bad points of Cystic fibrosis.

Here are some other changes affecting CF patients: Crackles, non-productive or productive cough, physical changes to the chest cavity, cyanosis, and clubbing of the fingernails. Genetic testing should be done since cystic fibrosis is an inherited disorder. Those affected with cystic fibrosis have parents “who do not have cystic fibrosis but are heterozygotes or carriers of the disease. A heterozygote has 1 dominant allele and 1 recessive allele.” (Grossman & Grossman, 2005, p. 46) My co-worker and her spouse are heterozygotes, and they have a 50/50 chance of having a cystic fibrosis child, they were not lucky with the odds and both their sons are affected with cystic fibrosis. These

Cystic Fibrosis is caused by a genetic defect in Chromosome 7. Chromosome 7 encodes the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, also known as CFTR. There are over 1,000 mutations of this gene causing cystic fibrosis, with each mutation manifesting as a different variation of disease onset and clinical presentation. The most common mutation is the loss of phenylalanine residue at deltaF508. The abnormal functioning CFTR causes impaired chloride transport and more viscous secretions. The defect causes dehydrated secretions in the respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract. Being dehydrated, these secretions become more difficult to move throughout the body. Along with impaired