What is CF?
Cystic fibrosis, or CF, is an inherited (genetic) disease, meaning that children who have CF are born with the disease even though they may not show signs of the disease until they are older.
CF is also a chronic illness. This means that until there is a cure, the person will have CF for his/her entire life.
How Common is CF?
CF is the most common genetic disease among white people. It affects about 30,000 children and adults in the United States and about 70,000 people worldwide.
Although CF is more commonly found in the white population, the disease affects all racial groups. CF occurs in about 1 in every 3,500 white births, 1 in every 17,000 black births, and 1 in every 90,000 Asian births.
About 12 million people (about 1 in 30 people) in the United States carry one CF gene mutation.
Signs & Symptoms
The most common signs of CF are salty-tasting sweat, chronic cough, frequent lung infections, poor weight gain, and frequent loose stools.
The onset of symptoms can vary. Some infants show symptoms soon after birth. For example, some babies are born with meconium ileus, a blockage in the intestines. Other children do not develop symptoms until they are much older.
People with CF do not have identical symptoms. Some have more digestive involvement while their lungs seem unaffected. Others have respiratory symptoms and normal digestion. Some people have respiratory and digestive symptoms while others show no signs of CF except for salty-tasting sweat.
The severity of symptoms also varies from one person to another. Some children develop lung infections that require hospitalization early in life while others remain healthy for many years.