Sometimes, if you do not know anyone who has a particular type of health condition you may not realize just how common it is. Today, I learned that Cystic Fibrosis is the most common serious genetic disorder that affects people of Caucasian descent in the United States. Children of other ethnic origins are sometimes born with Cystic Fibrosis, but these children are far fewer than the Caucasian children that are born with the condition.
Genetic disorders can be inherited in a few different ways. Cystic Fibrosis follows an autosomal recessive pattern, which means that if both parents pass that recessive gene to their child, the child is born with Cystic Fibrosis. It is often possible to know ahead of time if your child will have Cystic Fibrosis because the gene for the condition has been identified, and parents can be tested to determine whether they carry the recessive gene.
There are three major ways in which Cystic Fibrosis affects the body. Dysfunctional exocrine glands cause people with Cystic Fibrosis to sweat profusely and to lose a lot of salt through their perspiration. The lungs can fill with thick mucus, leading to chronic coughing and increased risk for lower respiratory infections. Also, the pancreas malfunctions and fats and proteins cannot be digested properly.
While there is not yet a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, people with Cystic Fibrosis are able to live longer, fuller lives than they were previously able to. It used to be the case that children born with Cystic Fibrosis rarely survived beyond childhood. Now, over half of the children born with Cystic Fibrosis live until age thirty or later. Early diagnosis and intensive nutritional, respiratory, and enzyme therapy are the current methods of managing Cystic Fibrosis. The increase in life expectancy and quality of life for children with Cystic Fibrosis should continue to increase as we continue to build on what we already know about the condition.