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Cystic Fibrosis Cystic Fibrosis causes the body to produce an abnormally thick, sticky mucus, due to the faulty transport of sodium and chloride (salt) within cells lining organs such as the lungs and pancreas, to their outer surfaces. The thick mucus also obstructs the pancreas, preventing enzymes from reaching the intestines to help break down and digest food. Cystic Fibrosis has a variety of symptoms. The most common are very salty-tasting skin, persistant coughing, wheezing or pneumonia, excessive appetite but poor weight gain, and bulky stools.
The sweat test is the standard diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis. This simple and painless test measures the amount of salt in the sweat. A high salt level indicates that a person has Cystic Fibrosis. The treatment of Cystic Fibrosis depends upon the stage of the disease and which organs are involved. One means of treatment, chest physical therapy, requires vigorous percussion (by using cupped hands) on the back and chest to dislodge the thick mucus from the lungs. Antibiotics are also used to treat lung infections and are administered intravenously, via pills, and / or medicated vapors which are inhaled to open up clogged airways.
When Cystic Fibrosis affects the digestive system, the body does not absorb enough nutrients. Therefore, people with Cystic Fibrosis may need to eat an enriched diet and take both replacement vitamins and enzymes. An individual must inherit a defective copy of the Cystic Fibrosis gene one from each parent to have cystic fibrosis. Each time two carriers conceive a child, there is a 25 percent chance that the child will have Cystic Fibrosis, a 50 percent chance that the child will be a carrier, and a 25 percent chance that the child will be a non-carrier. This means that the parents of a child who has cystic fibrosis have to be heterozygous with the cystic fibrosis gene. Since the defective Cystic Fibrosis gene was discovered in 1989, the pace of Cystic Fibrosis research has greatly accelerated.
In 1990, scientists successfully made copies of the normal gene, and and them to Cystic Fibrosis cells in laboratory dishes, which corrected the defective cells. The next major step was achieved in early 1993 when the first experimental gene therapy treatment was given to a patient with Cystic Fibrosis. Researchers modified a common cold virus to act as a delivery vehicle carrying the genes to the Cystic Fibrosis cells in the airways. Several studies are underway to test new gene delivery methods, such as fat capsules (liposomes) and synthetic vectors.
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Research essay sample on Cystic Fibrosis Gene Percent Chance
