Cystic Fibrosis

Abstract

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common and serious chronic disorders in Great Britain. It is a genetically determined disorder but although it is estimated that one person in every 20 to 23 is a carrier of the transmitting cystic fibrosis gene, only one child in around 1500 will have the disease. When the disease was first discovered in the 1930s it was thought that it was the digestive system, particularly the pancreas, that was chiefly involved. It is now known that it is the respiratory system that is most seriously affected. However, the name of the disease, derived from small cysts found in the pancreas, has remained.