Cystic Fibrosis Causes, Facts, and Symptoms
Cystic fibrosis is a common pediatric condition. It’s a condition that children are born with, thanks to a mutated gene they get from both parents.
Thankfully, advances in medication and treatment have made it so that people are living longer with this condition. So, it persists through adulthood.
Read about some of the common causes of gene mutations.
Causes of Cystic Fibrosis
Children inherit a set of genes from both of their parents. Your genes tell your body what to do in order to stay in optimal health. With cystic fibrosis, children inherit a mutated gene from both of their parents. This gene doesn’t determine your eye color or height. But it is responsible for regulating your salt and fluid levels.
Learn more about the different gene mutations that can cause cystic fibrosis.
It Is Systemic
Systemic conditions have broad effects. What this means is, they affect entire systems and not just part of the system.
Cystic fibrosis is a systemic condition. Yes, it almost always creates problems with a child’s lungs and pancreas. But, the actual systems involved and symptoms depend on the genes involved.
Asthma is a condition that affects your respiratory system; however, isn’t considered systemic. Find out why.
Facts
This condition causes inflammation in children’s airways. The airway inflammation leads to airway obstruction, which eventually becomes trouble breathing.
Lung tissue keeps bacteria out of your child’s airways. But, this condition damages lung tissue. This makes it easy for children to have respiratory symptoms, infections, and pneumonia.
Symptoms:
- Chronic infections
- Constant cough
- Trouble breathing
- Wheezing