NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
In Cystic Fibrosis CYSTIC FIBROSIS In today? s world there are a numerous amount of diseases. Diseases that people are ignorant to. Not by choice but due to the fact that they are not around that particular disease. One disease that people aren? t familiar with or around is Cystic Fibrosis.
A good friend of mine has Cystic Fibrosis and that is what sparked my interest in this particular disease. He is just like any other teenager and does the same activities as you and I. You will learn more about why later in the essay. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a disease that causes the body to mass produce a thick mucus in the cell linings of the lungs and the pancreas. It stops enzymes from getting to the intestines to allow the digestion of food. (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) CF is a genetic or inherited disease as well as fatal. CF mostly affects children and young adults.
People with CF average about a life of 30 years. (The Daily Apple) CF is not a contagious disease, it is caused by a gene that is? defective? . This gene is a protein that is called CFTR. This protein controls the movement of chloride through the cell membrane. Genes have alleles, two to be precise.
When one is defective then that is considered a carrier. If two alleles are defective then the gene has Cystic Fibrosis. (CFF) People wonder how common CF is. In the web site The Daily Apple states that around 30, 000 people in the U. S. , 3, 000 Canadians, and 20, 000 people in Europe have Cystic Fibrosis. The disease appears in people who have ancestors from The northern part of Europe and are of the Caucasian ethnicity.
Every year in America 2, 500 babies born have CF and one out of twenty Americans are a carrier of the CF gene that is ineffective. Most of these people are ignorant that they are in fact a carrier. This disease has an assortment of symptoms. The more common symptoms would be; salty tasting skin, coughing repeatedly, wedding or pneumonia, eating above average but little gain of weight and trouble breathing. (CFF) When a person has CF they tend to sweat out a lot of salt which in return disturbs the minerals in the bloodstream. This causes the heart to have an irregular beat pattern. (The Daily Apple) CF is diagnosed by a sweat test. A sweat test is a test that measures the amount of salt that is in the sweat.
The test is proceeded by using pilocarpine, a chemical that makes an area of skin sweat with a small electric current. Then the sweat is collected by using a gauze pad wrapped in plastic around the area of skin. The plastic is taken off after about 30 or 40 minutes and the sweat that has been absorbed in the gauze pad is tested. If the results come back as a high amount of salt, then the proposal that the person has Cystic Fibrosis is brought to attention. (Daily Apple) Although this is the most common test for CF some people who have this disease have a normal amount of salt levels. If this is the case then these people would be tested by; looking for the mutated gene by chemical testing, chest x-rays, lung function tests, and phlegm tests. (Daily Apple) People often wonder how they are supposed to determine if their child might have CF. The symptoms for children vary from each child.
If a baby is born with the CF gene then the symptoms should show up within one full year. Although symptoms might not come about until the adolescence. If a baby is born with the intestinal blockage, me conium ileus then that baby is suspect to have CF. (Daily Apple) People who have CF have healthy and fun lives just like the rest of us. For instance my friend who is diagnosed with CF does everything my friends and I do. Just because he has this disease doesn? t mean he can?
t live his life. He just needs to take care of himself like others do if they have this disease. Some things that people might have to do are; physical therapy, exercise, eat the correct foods (For example a high calorie, protein and fat intake. ), take enzymes to digest better, take antibiotics, use aerosols like a mister to make for easy breathing, and to eat more salt to replace the loss of salt from sweating. Other than those particular things you wouldn?
t know a person with CF from a person without it if you put them next to each other. (The Ortho-McNeil CF Care web site) Other medical problems can conduct from CF. Sinusitis is one problem that causes an infection of the nasal sinuses. Nasal polyps is another problem that causes a flesh growth inside of the nose. Clubbing which is when the fingers and toes are enlarged and rounded. Pneumothorax is also caused by CF and it is when the lung tissue is ruptured.
This medical problem also causes air to get caught in-between the lung and chest wall. Hemoptysis can also come about and that is when the person coughs up blood. Those are just some effects that CF might have on someone. Liver disease, and diabetes may also appear as well. (Daily Apple) Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease and genes are the primary units of hereditary. Genes are found on chromosomes. The job of most genes is to direct cells to produce proteins.
These proteins are very important when it come to living. Each person has 46 chromosomes. From each of the parent 23 are inherited. Each person has two sets of genes (a set from each parent). For some people basic building block of a gene called base pairs is mutated or changed.
This mutation causes the body itself to make imperfect protein or no protein. When this does happen the outcome is a loss of an primary function and that will induce a disease such as CF. (Daily Apple) Treatment for cystic Fibrosis is dependent on the stage that the disease is actually in and also what organs are involved. There is a way to cure and / or stop the disease and that would be gene therapy. This therapy would have to be performed at an early age. What gene therapy would do is either repair or substitute the insufficient gene. Although this seems like a good idea, it does not exist at this point in time unfortunately. (Daily Apple) Of course there are other realistic treatments that help the CF patients.
One way of treatment is the chest therapy. This requires repeated pounding on the back to dislodge mucus in the lungs. Antibiotics are able to help with the management of the lung infection. The antibiotics are used either by taking a pill or by vapor method such as an inhaler. These methods allow the airways that are trapped with mucus to be freed. (CFF) The lung problems are more serious then the digestive problems. The digestive problems are more easily handled as well.
When someone? s body is affected with CF in the digestive region, the body will not take in the nutrients that it needs. (CFF) To treat this the person needs to have a balanced diet as well as a high calorie diet. The diet should be low in fats and high in protein. Supplements are also used such as the vitamins, A, D, E, and K. (Daily Apple) There is of course the question itself of, is there any progress towards a cure? Well in 1993 there was the first experiment for gene therapy.
What scientists did was they changed the a cold virus to deliver the genes needed in the CF cells. This method was supported by many foundations. The newest treatments that are out in the world today are Pulmozyne and TOBI (terramycin solution for inhalation). Pulmozyne is a drug that will thin the mucus buildup in the lungs. This drug cut down respiratory infections and also improved the lung function. TOBI was developed in 1997 as a revised antibiotic.
This particular drug also improved the lungs functions. Not only did the drug do that but it decreased the amount of hospital stays. There are certain benefits to this drug such as it can be brought to the CF lung more directly and in more intensive doses. It is said in CFF that this drug should lead to more aerosolized antibiotics for patients. (CFF) CF is an emotional disease to people and is often hard to cope with. Education of CF is a tremendous help to families as well as the patients. Educational programs encourage people with CF to lead full and active lives.
There are certain things that family and friends should know. One thing is that the parents should not blame themselves for their child? s disease. There is no way of preventing it. Another thing is for the parents to treat the child normally. Don?
t favor that child or be over protective. Of course an important one is to remember that CF is not a contagious disease. It is impossible to get it from someone diagnosed with it. (Daily Apple) People with CF and their families should always keep an optimistic attitude. Today scientists are making tremendous advances in genetic interruptions as well as finding a new treatment like gene therapy. The perspective looks good for the future improvements in the well being of the patients and the finding of a cure. On a personal level I am one hoping for that time to come so that my friend will live his life to the very fullest.
Free research essays on topics related to: live his life, people with cf, baby is born, cystic fibrosis, gene therapy
Research essay sample on Live His Life People With Cf
