• Question: waht is cystic fibrosis

    Asked by biggusdiggus to Matt on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by marx.
    • Photo: Matthew Hurley

      Matthew Hurley answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition. 1 in 25 of us carry a faulty gene. When two people each with a faulty gene have a child there is a 25% chance of them having a child with CF. People with CF have very thick mucus in their lungs and the anti-bacteria mechanisms don’t work properly. They get lots of pneumonia that over time damages the lungs – this makes them even more prone to infection. Because they get lots of antibiotics they then get infections with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics – these infections then can’t be treated. Even though in the last couple of years treatment for CF is improving, life expectancy is still less than those who don’t have CF. New treatments are either looking at better ways of treating infection (my research) or correcting the faulty genes. We have a long way to go.

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