History of Cystic Fibrosis free essay sample

History of Cystic Fibrosis Woe to that child which when kissed on the forehead tastes salty. He is bewitched and soon must die. This proverb, dating back to European folklore in the 1700s, was the diagnosis for the disease recognized today as Cystic Fibrosis (CF). In that time period the disease was usually fatal and common among infants. The excessive salt in the sweat, Just one symptom of CF, made the disease identifiable. However, since the time of European folklore, various renowned scientists worked actively to discover he cause and possible treatments of Cystic Fibrosis. Documented history of CF began during the 1930s and each decade following that date brought new advances in the disease. The 1930s is the decade said to be the discovery of Cystic Fibrosis. The first mediacl description of CF as an individual disease was in 1936 by a Swiss physician, Dr. Fanconi. He labeled the illness celiac syndrome and said it caused changes in childrens pancreas. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Cystic Fibrosis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In 1938, Dr. Dorothy Andersen of Columbia University in New York, named the disease Cystic Fibrosis and distinguished it from Celiac syndrome ecause there was progressive lung destruction and death in infancy or early childhood. Dorothy Andersen) At this time Andersen believed the disease was caused by vitamin A deficiency. The 1940s brought a decade full of altering theories about Cystic Fibrosis. Andersens vitamin A deficiency theory was contested by many doctors, including herself. In 1946, researchers studied the patterns of the diseases inheritance and concluded it was probably caused by the mutation of a single gene. Finally in the 1940s . Drs. Sidney Farber and Harry Shwachman linked the strange ischarge of mucus to the disease. The 1950s was a decade that marked new advancements in diagnosis techniques of the disease. The most prominent technique was the sweat test developed by DR. Paul di Sant Agnese, in New York, during the heat wave of 1953. Along with new diagnosis developments, some of the first Cystic Fibrosis clinics were created in Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco. The early clinics, however, were often too late in treating the disease and waited until the patient had severe pain. To combat these bad treatment methods, in 1955, Dr. Shwachman proposed proper treatment for Cystic Fibrosis, which was early diagnosis, active early treatment, and proper nutrition. During the 1950s, Dr. Archie Norman, began studying the effect of high fat diets as a treatment for Cystic Fibrosis. Finally, in the 1960s Cystic Fibrosis awareness rose dramatically and there was the formation of clinics and research facilities to help Cystic Fibrosis. The organizations were formed by the rare CF survivors and the parents of CF victims. The 1970s was not a ground breaking decade for Cystic Fibrosis research. However, the fruition of high fat diets to treat the disease was seen. The 1980s is said to have been the greatest decade in the history of Cystic Fibrosis research. As well as further advancements in treating the illness, the revolutionary discovery of the cystic fibrosis trans-membrane conductance regulator gene was made, by the scientist who would later go on to completing the Human Genome Project, In 1989. A mutation of