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Symptoms of CF can be very different from person to person. Sometimes symptoms show up at birth, and sometimes they show up later. Also, in some cases, your child may have few symptoms, or very mild symptoms when they are younger, but get more or worse symptoms when they are older. Sometimes your child may have few symptoms, and other times your child’s symptoms may be more severe.
Some of the early symptoms include an inability to have a bowel movement shortly after being born and a salty taste on your baby’s skin.
Your child’s respiratory symptoms may include:
Your child’s digestive symptoms may include:
Later in your child’s life, they might have reproductive symptoms including:
Other signs and symptoms of CF are generally due to an imbalance of nutrients and minerals in the blood. CF causes your child’s sweat to become very salty, which causes them to lose a lot of salt when they sweat. Your child may become dehydrated more easily than other children.
Have your child see a doctor if you suspect they have CF. It is important to get a diagnosis and start treatment as soon as possible. CF can have serious complications, and may also cause more severe conditions such as:
CF is an inherited disease, which means it is passed from parent to child. Even if you do not have the symptoms of CF, if you have the damaged genes that causes CF, you can still pass CF on to your child.
You can get tested to find out if you have the genes that cause CF, which may provide insight as you think about having children. If you and your partner are both carriers of CF, it is more likely that your children will have CF. If you and your partner both have CF, your child will have CF.
There are many different ways to test for CF. These tests include:
If your child tests positive for CF, your child’s doctor may order other tests to monitor the progression of the illness. These other tests may include:
There are many different treatments to help ease your child’s symptoms, depending on the severity of your child’s case of CF:
It is important to catch CF as early as possible so that you can begin treating your child early. Treatment goals include:
There is no known cure for CF, although most children with CF go on to live long lives with proper treatment.
CF is a genetic disorder, and there are no known prevention methods at this time. However, you may be able to have yourself tested to find out if you are a carrier of the disease, which may provide some insight about whether or not you could pass this on to your child.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) [SIS-tic fye-BROH-sis] is a genetic disease, which means a disease that is passed from parent to child. Most of the time, CF affects the mucus lining in your child’s liver, intestines, lungs, pancreas, sinuses, and sex organs. CF affects your child’s mucus and sweat glands, making the mucus thick and sticky.
Mucus helps protect the body. Healthy mucus is usually slippery, but slightly thicker than water. In children who have CF, their mucus can become so thick that it clogs the lungs, making it hard to breathe. Children that have CF can also have frequent lung infections, which can cause lung damage.
The thick mucus can also block the tubes in your child’s pancreas, which prevents digestive enzymes from getting into your child’s intestines. This makes it difficult for them to absorb nutrients, such as fats and proteins, from their food.
Although it can affect a few different organs, most often, the thick mucus that CF creates affects how your child breathes and digests food.