Word: cystic
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...most common inherited diseases in Britain, as in the U.S., is cystic fibrosis, which occurs once in about 2,500 births.* The pattern of inheritance is Mendelian recessive-the gene carrying the defect is weak and is overpowered by a corresponding normal gene, so that a child with one normal parent does not develop the disease. But if both parents carry the abnormal gene, and it is proved by the birth of one child with cystic fibrosis, there is a one-in-four risk that any subsequent child will also be afflicted. Other diseases in the bad-risk group: some...
...Less than 30 years ago, cystic fibrosis was not even recognized as a distinct disease. It was regarded as a relative ly rare and puzzling inherited disorder of the pancreas, which for some un known reason caused the lungs to fill with an unusually thick viscid mucus. Today doctors know a lot more about "C.F.", enough, in fact, to give it the unenviable reputation of being one of the most common long-lasting disorders of children, and one of their major kill ers. As a cause of death, reports Dr. Paul A. di Sant'-Agnese of the National Institutes...
...Though cystic fibrosis has had intense attention from medical researchers in the past few years, bedside doctors still find it bafflingly difficult to deal with the disease, which involves both the lungs and the digestive tract. It is not for lack of trying: they are using a dozen or more different drugs and other treatments. Now, Pediatrician Herman W. Reas of St. Louis Children's Hospital has found that boosting the patient's breathing efficiency twice a day with a new aerosol drug eases his distress and promotes his general health...
...victim of cystic fibrosis, almost invariably a child because the disease is usually fatal before adulthood, has an inherited enzyme defect that damages the oxygen-exchange cells in his lungs and reduces the elasticity of the lung walls. He does not breathe enough air in, nor let enough out. His windpipe and lungs become clogged with thick viscid mucus. The trick is to loosen and thin this mucus...
...Mucomyst spray is no cure, but it appears to be less irritating than previous aerosols. While its effects may be most dramatic in cystic fibrosis, the University of Mississippi's Dr. Watts R. Webb reports that the drug seems to be equally useful in other diseases in which mucus blocks breathing...