Cystic Fibrosis

            
             Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disorder that affects the way salt and water move into and out of the body's cells. The most dangerous effect of this disease is the fact that thick mucus blocks the tubes and ducts of the lungs and the digestive system. The problem with the lungs can lead to blockage, infection and lung damage that can cause death, while the blockage in the digestive system can cause poor digest and poor absorption of food, leading to underdevelopment in growth and malnutrition. Although cystic fibrosis affects many parts of the body it doesn't affect the brain or nervous system. It doesn't cause mental retardation. It also has no affect on the kidneys, heart, muscles, blood, or the immune system. Cystic fibrosis is with the person who has it from birth. However, signs and symptoms of cystic fibrosis may not show up for weeks, months or even years after birth. Cystic fibrosis is very common among white people, and is the most commonly inherited life-shortening disease, affecting 1 in every 2,500 live babies born. (Orenstein, xii)The main problem in people with cystic fibrosis is that chloride can't pass through the cells that make up the lungs, pancreas, and sweat glands normally, and sodium is pumped through cells more than normal. The combination of these two problems cause lung and pancreatic mucus and fluid to be drier than normal and sweat to be saltier than normal. The thick and sticky mucus clogs bronchial tubes in the lungs, blocks ducts and tubes leading from the pancreas to the intestines, and occasionally blocks the intestines and liver.
             In people with cystic fibrosis the lungs are the part of the body that cause most of the sickness, and more than 95% of the deaths form cystic fibrosis. (Orenstein, 19) Thick mucus blocks the bronchial tubes causing infection and inflammation. The lung problem keeps getting worse as time goes on. The more inflammation there is within the bronchial tubes, the more swelling there is and the smaller the airway opening becomes, making it more difficult for air to move in and out.