Introduction to Cystic Fibrosis

Hi all!  Welcome to my blog on cystic fibrosis!  Throughout this semester, I will be updating this blog with information about cystic fibrosis.  This information will include what it is, the pathophysiology behind it, the symptoms, the treatments, and other facts about cystic fibrosis. 

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease of the secretory glands.  This disease mainly affects the lungs and the digestive system.  People who have CF produce an unusual sticky and thick mucus.  This is due to a defective gene in their DNA.  Since the gene is defective, the protein is as well, leading to the production of the mucus.  The mucus can build up in a person's lungs and potentially block airways.  The mucus can also block ducts in the pancreas, resulting in digestive enzymes not being able to travel to the small intestine.  Without digestive enzymes, food cannot be broken down to absorb the nutrients and vitamins the person needs.  There is an estimated 70,000 people worldwide who have cystic fibrosis.

I chose this topic because I am somewhat familiar with fibrosis diseases.  When I was in the 6th grade, my grandmother was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, which is a disease of the lungs.  Although cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease and pulmonary fibrosis is not, they still have many aspects that are related.  I chose CF to learn more about lung diseases and to hopefully relate it to the disease that my grandmother passed away from. 

Resources: 
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cf/
http://www.cff.org/aboutcf/

http://bionews-tx.com/cystic-fibrosis/