Cystic+Fibrosis

=**Cystic Fibrosis**=

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic mutation which causes an overflow of mucus that can block organs inside the human body. This disease is a recessive disease. This means that if both parents have the mutated Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator, or //CFTR,// gene in them, their child can inherit this mutation. The disease requires the child to have inherited one gene from the father, and one from the mother for it to occur. If the child only inherits the gene from parent, the child becomes a carrier of the gene without the actual disease. The mucus that is created due to this mutation is thicker and stickier than the mucus of people not affected by Cystic Fibrosis. This normally occurs in the respiratory and digestive systems. Some symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis include: coughing, wheezing, respiratory diseases (such as bronchitis), weight loss, and salty skin.

If the mucus builds up in your lungs, it will clog up your lungs, making it harder to breathe. Also, the mucus can cause bacteria to remain in the lungs which can lead to swelling and some lung infections due to harmful bacteria staying inside the lungs. This can cause children to die due to suffocation. This will also make it harder to do sports seeing as how air cannot reach your lungs properly. Due to the fact that Cystic Fibrosis causes infections in your lungs, your lung cells won’t live as long as people without the disease and so most patients with Cystic Fibrosis die early.

If the mucus builds up in your pancreas it will block the path of the pancreas. The pancreas creates enzymes that help with digestion as well as insulin that helps with the blood’s sugar level. Once the mucus created by Cystic Fibrosis blocks the pancreas, any food ingested won’t be completely digested. This can cause malnourishment, poor growth, and diarrhea. Some patients that have this mutation as a baby can even get a disease called meconium ileus. This disease causes blockage of the intestines right after birth which will hinder the digestive process. This disease will cause several limitations. As mentioned before, Cystic Fibrosis can have many different symptoms. They can cause extra damage to your health, causing coughing, wheezing and such, malnutrition, which can cause weight loss, and digestive problems. These symptoms can all hinder your health and as such, will cause you to require medical treatment on a daily basis. One symptom that does require daily treatment is the buildup of mucus in your lungs. Every day, Cystic Fibrosis patients have to clean up the mucus in their lungs or else the disease can become much worse. Medical treatment for Cystic Fibrosis lasts a lifetime, and it can become quite expensive. Some medications that are prescribed for patients can cost a lot of money, and as such are probably the biggest financial problem of having Cystic Fibrosis. Also, due to the fact that Cystic Fibrosis cause the patient to be hospitalized, it is very hard for the patient to be included in society. The patient is secluded due to the fact that being around many people could be harmful as it could introduce different bacteria which could cause more problems in the respiratory system of the patient.

Sources: []//. // [] [] [|http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/Faqs/#What_is_cystic_fibrosis?] [] [] [] []