Cystic Fibrosis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that seriously affects lungs, liver, intestines and pancreas. Technically speaking, Cystic Fibrosis shortly called as CF in medical terms is a genetic disorder where the secretory glands in the body are not normal functional. It’s a condition which is mostly observed in the childhood of patients, sometimes as early as in their births. Mucus, sweat and other bodily secretions are affected by Cystic Fibrosis and as a result they cause serious health problems for the patients.

Mucus generally is thin and slippery substance around the lungs which helps to filter, and to absorb dust particles and other micro organisms thus prevents them entering into lungs. For a Cystic Fibrosis patient, the mucus generally would be thick and this is what causes breathing problems to the patient. The digestive secretions too are abnormal and don’t help food to digest and vitamins to absorb properly. This is why Cystic Fibrosis affected people are mostly underweight and have a poor growth ratio.

Causes of Cystic Fibrosis

The single main cause of the Cystic Fibrosis is parental inheritance. Like most of the genetic disorders, the CTFR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator), a defect gene will be inherited by the child from their parents who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis. This CTFR controls the water and salt content in the body cells. So the defected CTFR gene results in formation thick mucus and releasing excess content of salt in sweat.

Symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis

There are far too many symptoms that circulate around Cystic Fibrosis thus making it difficult to judge the disease by symptoms alone. And the symptoms too vary from person to person depending upon the disease condition of the patient. However there are some basic symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis like symptoms related to respiratory and digestive systems. The first and foremost symptom is thick mucus around lungs and airways which always causes lung and chest infections.

Chronic cough, pneumonia, abnormal foul smell of bowls, mucus in bowls, improper bowl movements, unusual weight loss, poor growth, abdominal pains, dehydration and excess loss of salt in sweat are the common symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis.

Available Treatments

At present, there are no major treatments available for Cystic Fibrosis to cure it in a single sitting or surgery. The approached gene therapy at early stages of disease can bring a change in defective CTFR gene. But for the doctor, the most important thing is to minimize the symptoms of disease thus helping patient to lead a painless life.

The most practiced treatment these days is anti biotic therapy which reduces the disease effects of CF affected patients and thus increasing the average life span of patients drastically. The bronchodilators, mucolytics and decongestants are some of medical practices that ease the breathing system and reduce lung infections in patient.

A specific low fat diet plan can help out solving the digestive problems that naturally come along with Cystic Fibrosis. There are also some prescribed exercises and physical activities that can ease thick mucus and helps to drain quickly. A proper maintenance can help CF patients to live life normally without many hassles.

To Your Health!