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Cystic Fibrosis : A Common Fatal Recessive Genetic Disease

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What is Cystic Fibrosis? Dr. Polit describes Cystic Fibrosis, also referred to as CF, the most common fatal recessive genetic disease among white people. It is a hereditary disorder, also known as mucoviscidosis, which disturbs the lungs, as well as the digestive system, by blockage due to the creation of abnormally thick mucus. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “This abnormal mucus can clog the airways, leading to severe problems with breathing and bacterial infections in the lungs. These infections cause chronic coughing, wheezing, and inflammation”. Due to the buildup and infections, scar tissue forms as well as lung cysts causing permanent lung damage. It is also very common for those with cystic fibrosis to suffer from digestive problems because of the blockages caused by thick, sticky mucus in the body.

In the United States there are close to thirty - thousand people and seventy thousand people worldwide living with Cystic Fibrosis today, with the majority of them being over the age of eighteen. CF has over eighteen-thousand mutations, but most of the tests can’t always pick up on them, only the more common mutations of CF. By the age of two, over seventy-five percent of kids containing CF are diagnosed, making over one-thousand new cases of Cystic Fibrosis diagnosed every year. Cystic Fibrosis is caused when both the parents of the child have the CF genes which is why it is a recessive genetic disorder. Thus making it something that isn’t

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