I have a 23 year old sister who has Cystic Fibrosis, a disease where a defective gene makes the body build up mucus in organs such as the lungs and the pancreas.
However, not many people know about this rare disease and the effect it has on the body. This creates a serious problem for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation getting enough money to get the research closer to a cure. People need to be more aware of this disease.

Cystic Fibrosis is a disease where a defective gene causes a thick and icky buildup of mucus in organs like the pancreas and lungs. The disease that can affect the person living with Cystic Fibrosis in different ways depending on the severity of the individual circumstance.

In the lungs this sticky buildup of mucus can block air from getting into the lungs, allowing bacteria to thrive. This can cause infections, severe lung damage, and leads to respiratory failure.
With the pancreas, the mucus can stop digestive enzymes- which allows the body to break down food- from forming, and this stops the body from forming vital nutrients that it needs.

Although research for Cystic Fibrosis has added on years to a Cystic Fibrosis patient’s life, there is still no cure and therefore many patients’ lives are cut short.

This all factors into how it affects my family. We have had to pay for thousands of dollars worth of medicine and medical bills for my sister. My sister, only expected to live for twenty years, has lived for three years past expected. But she still gets lung infections all the time, she still gets severely sick, and everytime this happens it strikes fear into my entire family. I can’t even imagine how she feels.

Cystic Fibrosis needs more awareness. It affects many lives and needs to be dealt with to find a cure.