Cystic fibrosis

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Cystic fibrosis (also known as CF, mucovoidosis, or mucoviscidosis) is a genetic disorder known to be an inherited disease of the secretory glands, including the glands that make mucus and sweat.

The hallmarks of cystic fibrosis are salty tasting skin, normal appetite but poor growth and poor weight gain, excess mucus production, and coughing/shortness of breath. Males can be infertile due to the condition Congenital absence of the vas deferens. Often, symptoms of CF appear in infancy and childhood. Meconium ileus is a typical finding in newborn babies with CF.

Although technically a rare disease, cystic fibrosis is ranked as one of the most widespread life-shortening genetic diseases. It is most common among nations in the Western world; one in twenty-two people of Mediterranean descent is a carrier of one gene for CF, making it the most common genetic disease in these populations.[citation needed] An exception is Finland, where only one in 80 people carry a CF mutation. In the United States, 1 in 4,000 children are born with CF. In 1997, about 1 in 3,300 caucasian children in the United States was born with cystic fibrosis. In contrast, only 1 in 15,000 African American children suffered from cystic fibrosis, and in Asian Americans the rate was even lower at 1 in 32,000.

For more information about Cystic fibrosis, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with cystic fibrosis

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Researchers restore some function to cells from cystic fibrosis patients

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created 15 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before ...


Causative gene of a rare disorder discovered by sequencing only protein-coding regions of genome

For the first time, scientists discover causative gene of a rare disorder by exome sequencing

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- UW researchers have successfully used a method called exome sequencing to quickly discover a previously unknown gene responsible for a rare disorder. The finding demonstrates the usefulness ...


Antioxidant found in vegetables has implications for treating cystic fibrosis

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that a dietary antioxidant found in such vegetables as broccoli and cauliflower protects cells from damage caused by chemicals generated during the ...


Lung tissue generated from human embryonic stem cells

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Scientists in Belgium have successfully differentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESC) into major cell types of lung epithelial tissue using a convenient air-liquid interface. The technique, published in BioMed Central's ...


Protein critical for insulin secretion may be contributor to diabetes

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A cellular protein from a family involved in several human diseases is crucial for the proper production and release of insulin, new research has found, suggesting that the protein might play a role in diabetes.


Species diversity helps researchers refine analyses of human gene mutations

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In the new era of personalized medicine, physicians hope to provide earlier diagnoses and improve therapy by evaluating patients' genetic blueprints. But, as a new bioinformatics study emphasizes, the first step must be to ...


'Disordered' amino acids may really be there to provide wiggle room for signaling protein

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Sections of proteins previously thought to be disordered may in fact have an unexpected biological role - providing certain proteins room to move -- according to a study published by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center ...


Aerosolized nanoparticles show promise for delivering antibiotic treatment

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created May 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles may provide a means to improve drug delivery and increase patient compliance, thus reducing the severity of individual illnesses, the spread of epidemics, and possibly even ...


Simulated gene therapy

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 29, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

In a recent issue of The Journal of Chemical Physics, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), a group of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Los Alamos National Laboratory describe the fi ...


Sugar on bacteria surface serves as base for a web of resistance

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The bacteria responsible for chronic infections in cystic fibrosis patients use one of the sugars on the germs' surface to start building a structure that helps the microbes resist efforts to kill them, new research shows.


Taking the Resistance Out of Drug-Resistant Infections

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- It started out as a research project focused on getting rid of harmful bacterial accumulations called biofilms. Now it has the potential to make conventional antibiotics work against stubborn, drug-resistant ...


Immune cells play surprising role in cystic fibrosis lung damage

Medicine & Health / Research

created Mar 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Immune cells once thought to be innocent bystanders in cystic fibrosis may hold the key to stopping patients' fatal lung disease. New findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's ...


Scientists find gene that modifies severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers have discovered a gene that modifies the severity of lung disease in people with the lethal genetic condition, cystic fibrosis, pointing to possible new targets for treatment, according to a new study in Nature.


Boosting its infectivity turns benign virus into good gene therapy carrier for cystic fibrosis

'Evolved' virus may improve gene therapy for cystic fibrosis

Chemistry /

created Feb 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Iowa have turned a relatively benign virus into a highly infectious form that is ideal as a carrier for gene ...


Nanoemulsion

Nanoemulsion potent against superbugs that kill cystic fibrosis patients

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Feb 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

University of Michigan scientists report highly encouraging evidence that a super-fine oil-and-water emulsion, already shown to kill many other microbes, may be able to quell the ravaging, often drug-resistant ...