What is CF?

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) primarily affects the lungs and digestive system because of a malfunction in the exocrine system, responsible for producing saliva, sweat, tears and mucus.

There is currently no cure. People with CF develop an abnormal amount of excessively thick and sticky mucus within the lungs, airways and the digestive system. The mucus causes impairment of the digestive functions of the pancreas and traps bacteria in the lungs resulting in recurrent infections which lead to irreversible damage. Lung failure is the major cause of death for someone with CF.

From birth, a person with CF undergoes constant medical treatments and physiotherapy.

PLAY VIDEO

CF is ‘autosomal recessive’ meaning that it occurs equally in males and females, the CF gene must be inherited from both parents and it can ‘skip’ generations.

PLAY VIDEO

In Australia, one in 2,500 babies are born with CF, that’s one every four days. On average one in 25 people carry the CF gene – most of whom are unaware that they are carriers. Because carriers of CF are unaffected (and therefore show no symptoms) it is hard for them to appreciate that CF may be a real risk. Any of us could be a carrier and we wouldn’t know – think about it, that’s about 1 million unaware carriers – it could be you!

On average one in 25 people carry the CF gene - most of whom are unaware that they are carriers

There is no cure for CF at present. Research is being conducted around the world, with large-scale programs in both the USA and UK. Cystic Fibrosis came into the human genome about 5000 years ago and it has survived and spread. Today there are more than 2000 mutations that lead to CF, some of which are particular to individual families. At the other extreme, one mutation, Delta F508, is present in some 72% of all cases worldwide.

Getting support