Health Conditions

What causes it?

The cause of CF was a mystery until the 1940s, when it was linked with the inability to clear mucus from the lungs. Even then, treatment was essentially supportive and few individuals with CF survived childhood. As recently as 1970, the average age of survival for a CF patient was only 16 years. In 1989, however, researchers discovered the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) the gene involved in CF. Any of several possible CFTR mutations may result in CF. While CF still has no cure, improved treatments for the disease now allow patients to live relatively comfortable lives well into their adult years. In 2006 the median survival age was increased to nearly 37 years, an increase of more than five years since 2002.