CYSTIC FIBROSIS Essay, Research Paper

CYSTIC FIBROSIS

ONE OUT OF EVERY 2,500 BIRTHS IN THE UNITED STATES WILL BE DIAGNOSED

WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS. THIS FACT MAKES CYSTIC FIBROSIS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON

GENETIC DISEASES IN THE NATION. ABOUT 30,000 AMERICANS HAVE THE DISEASE, BUT

EVEN THOUGH CYSTIC FIBROSIS IS THE NATIONS MOST COMMON GENETIC DISEASE THE

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS KNOW LITTLE ABOUT IT. CYSTIC FIBROSIS IS RELATIVELY

COMMON IN CALCASTION PEOPLE BUT RARE IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN. THE DISEASE IS VERY

UNCOMMON IN MONGOLIANS. FIVE PERCENT OF THE POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES ARE

CARRIERS OF THE GENETIC DISEASE.

CYSTIC FIBROSIS, SOMETIMES CLASSIFIED AS MUCOVISCIDOSIS, IS A DISORDER

IN WHICH THE EXCRORINE GLANDS SECRETE ABNORMALLY THICK MUCUS. THIS LEADS TO THE

OBSTRUCTION OF THE PANCREAS AND CHRONIC INFECTIONS OF THE LUNGS, WHICH GENERALLY

CAUSES DEATH IN CHILDHOOD OR EARLY ADULTHOOD. SOME MILDLY AFFECTED PATIENTS MAY

SURVIVE LONGER. PATIENTS WITH PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY TAKE PANCREATIC ENZYMES

WITH MEALS. THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS ARE TREATED WITH ANTIBIOTICS,

MOSTLY WITH AEROSOLS THAT RELIEVE CONSTRICTION OF THE AIRWAYS. PHYSICAL THERAPY

IS USED TO HELP PATIENTS COUGH UP THE OBSTRUCTING MUCUS. INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTION,

WHICH OCCURS MOSTLY IN INFANCY, MAY REQUIRE SURGERY.

IN 1989, RESEARCHERS FOND THE ABNORMAL GENE THAT CAUSES CYSTIC FIBROSIS.

THIS GENE IS LOCATED ON CHROMOSOME 7 . A PERSON WHO HAS TWO CYSTIC FIBROSIS

GENES HAS THE DISEASE . A PERSON THAT CARRIES ONE OF THE GENES DOES NOT HAVE THE

GENETIC DISEASE, BUT IS A CARRIER.

THE SYMPTOMS OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS SOMETIMES OCCUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER BIRTH.

MUCUS SECRETIONS MAY APPEAR IN THE BABY?S INTESTINES, WHICH CAN CAUSE

OBSTRUCTION IN THE INTESTINES. IN ALL CASES, THE CHILD WILL GAIN LITTLE WEIGHT

RIGHT FROM BIRTH, BECAUSE THE PANCREAS IS NOT PRODUCING ENZYMES. LITTLE TO NO

NUTRIENTS ARE ABSORBED IN THE CHILD?S SYSTEM. A CHILD WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS MAY

HAVE REOCCURRING RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS, ALONG WITH COUGH AND FEVER. THIS MAY BE

MORE SEVERE AND PERSISTENT THAT NORMAL THIS IS A RESULT OF THE THICK, STICKY

MUCUS THAT WILL HOLD AND TRAP GERMS IN THE BRONCHIAL TUBES. IT SHOULD BE TAKEN

IN TO CONSIDERATION THAT CHILDREN WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS HAVE LARGE APPETITES AND

EAT A GREAT DEAL. IN SPITE OF THEIR MALNUTRITION, THEY ART NOT IN PAIN AND DO

NOT GENERALLY FEEL IT.

EXTRACTS OF ANIMAL PANCREAS, IN POWDER OR GRANULE FORM, ARE PRESCRIBED

TO REPLACE THE MISSING ENZYMES FROM THE PANCREAS, AND THE AMOUNT OF FAT IS

DECREASED IN THE CHILD?S DIET. WITH THIS TREATMENT THE CHILD BEGINS TO GAIN

WEIGHT. TO KEEP THE LUNGS FREE OF AS MUCH MUCUS AS POSSIBLE , THE PATIENTS MAY

NEED TO HAVE DAILY RESPIRATORY PHYSICAL THERAPY. ANY RESPIRATORY INFECTION THAT

ARISE ARE TREATED WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF ANTIBIOTICS.

CYSTIC FIBROSIS CAN NOT YET BE CURED. ALTHOUGH THE IDENTIFICATION OF

CHROMOSOME 7 HAS PAVED THE WAY FOR GENE THERAPY. ANTIBIOTICS AND ENZYMES ARE NOT

THE ONLY TREATMENTS FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS. ONE RELATIVELY NEW TREATMENT IS A

BIOTECH DRUG THAT THINS THE MUCUS, WHICH HELPS THE LUNGS FUNCTION BETTER AND

REDUCES THE RISK OF INFECTIONS. GENE THERAPY IS STILL IN EXPERIMENTAL STAGES.