Cystic Fibrosis

By: Nic Vreede

Genetic Disorder

Brochure

Genetic disorder, people

are born with cystic fi-

brosis

Life expectancy is

based on how long and

severe the disease is for

each individual

“In 2009, the median

predicted age of surviv-

al was in the mid

30’s” (cff.org 4).

The median age keeps

going up with new

treatments being found

all the time.

People can live a nor-

mal life as long as they

eat good food, take their

medication and follow

the doctors orders care-

fully.

Facts about CF

Sticky mucus builds up in the lungs

which makes it difficult to breath.

Mucus can also build up in the pancreas.

When this happens the body has a hard

time digesting things and the pancreas

cannot regulate the body’s blood sugar.

Salty tasting skin

Poor health and growth despite a normal

food intake,

Coughing, wheezing and shortness of

breath.

Lung infections

Symptoms

There are many symptoms but here

some of the most common and serious:

Cystic Fibrosis is a very

deadly disease which will

shorten the lives of over

30,000 Americans. The pro-

cess begins when part of the

tRNA strand is deleted and it

causes the ribosome to mis-

read the strand and create the

wrong protein; which is una-

ble to break down the mucus.

Mucus builds up and travels

throughout the body, settling

in places such as the lungs

and the pancreas. This dis-

ease usually affects the Cau-

casian population but it can

happen to any ethnicity. This

devastating disease causes a

person to have trouble breath-

ing and difficulty digesting

food.

Treatments

Cystic Fibrosis has no official

cure, but there are some treat-

ments to help slow down the

attack of this disease. The

goals of these treatments is to

prevent and control lung infec-

tions.

Current treatments

Airway Clearance Tech-

niques (ACT). In this pro-

cess the people have to sit

or stand and have their back

pounded to release the mu-

cus.

Inhaled Medications. The

patient would use an inhaler

or a breathing machine.

Antibiotics. Antibiotics are

used to fight infections.

Good nutrition. Scientists

found that as long as the

person maintains a healthy

weight, eating fruits and

vegetables can help control

Cystic Fibrosis.

Causes and Inheritance

The only way of getting

this disease is from both

parents having the

heterozygous recessive

gene. The likely hood of

inheriting Cystic Fibrosis is

about 25%. Both parents

can be heterozygous

recessive and not be

symptomatic of the disease.

The recessive pedigree

chart details the possibility

of a parent passing the

Cystic Fibrosis gene to

their children.

Cystic Fibrosis