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Symptoms Of Cystic Fibrosis

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Overview: Cystic Fibrosis, or CF, is a genetic disease that affects children to young adults. It occurs when a child has two defective copies of the gene that causes cystic fibrosis, one from each parent. The disease primarily affects the digestive system and it also affects the respiratory system, mainly the lungs bronchi and bronchioles. Cystic fibrosis affects the cells that produce mucus and digestive juices, as it changes the protein that regulates the movement of salt in and out of cells. Which leads to people thick and sticky mucus and digestive juices, such as pancreatic juices. Whereas people who do not have CF have thin and slippery mucus and digestive juices. The severity of the disease differs from one person to the next, yet the …show more content…

Symptoms of cystic fibrosis is persistent cough that are full of mucus, shortness of breath, weight loss and infertility or decreased fertility in both men and women. Also, intestinal blockage can occur, where a part of the intestines folds in on itself.
Two or more of the symptoms might indicate that you have cystic fibrosis and a doctor might conduct a sweat test, which tests for how much salt is in your sweat. If the salt levels are high enough, it might indicate cystic fibrosis. Other tests that can determine if you have cystic fibrosis is genetic testing and newborn screening.
There is no cure for cystic fibrosis, but medication can be provided to help ease the symptoms that accompany the disease. Things like antibiotics can treat and prevent lung infections. A person can also take mucus thinning drugs that help to improve lung functions, by helping you cough out the mucus. Furthermore, a person can also take in pancreatic enzymes that help to digest food in the small intestines and stomach. If a person’s intestine folds in on itself, then the person would have to have surgery that removes the part of the intestine. If the blockages in the ducts in the lungs become resistant to medication, or antibiotics, then the person might need to have a lung transplant. Cystic fibrosis does not occur in the set of lungs that have been transplanted into

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