Who are carriers of cystic fibrosis?
Someone with one normal CF gene and one faulty CF gene is known as a cystic fibrosis carrier. You can be a carrier and not have the disease yourself. Many women find out they are carriers when they become, or are trying to become, pregnant. If their partner is also a carrier, their child may be born with the disease.
How do you know if you are a carrier of cystic fibrosis?
How do I know if I am a carrier of cystic fibrosis? Carrier testing is available through a simple blood test. There are over 1,000 mutations that have been found to cause CF. Carrier screening can be done for the most common of these, and will identify about 85 to 90 percent of carriers in the Caucasian population.
How common is CF carrier?
It is estimated that approximately 1 in 35 Americans is a carrier of the CFTR gene mutation, which means more than 10 million Americans are cystic fibrosis carriers.
How do you become a carrier of a disease?
Carriers are associated with diseases inherited as recessive traits. In order to have the disease, an individual must have inherited mutated alleles from both parents. An individual having one normal allele and one mutated allele does not have the disease. Two carriers may produce children with the disease.
How accurate is CF carrier screening?
A positive genetic carrier test for CF means that a person has an altered copy of the CF gene; this result is more than 99% accurate.
How long does it take to get cystic fibrosis carrier test results?
This test requires a small sample of blood taken at our laboratory department. Results are usually ready in 10 to 14 days. Your health care provider will inform you of the results.
How common is it to be a carrier of cystic fibrosis?
What are the symptoms of a CF carrier?
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Who are some famous people with cystic fibrosis?
Frederic Chopin tops our list. The composer and piano virtuoso died in his 30s and historians believe that his symptoms resemble those associated with cystic fibrosis. Fellow musicians Alice Martineau, Gregory Lemarchal and Alex Stobbs all suffer from cystic fibrosis as well. Triathlete Lisa Bentley was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1988.
Does carrier of the CF gene exhibit symptoms?
What to expect if you are a symptomatic carrier. Most CF carriers do not have symptoms, but some do. Symptoms are not as bad for carriers are they are for people with CF. Symptomatic CF carriers could feel any number of mild CF symptoms. This is because the CFTR gene can be mutated in 1,700 different ways.
How common is cystic fibrosis and who does it affect?
More than half of people with CF are age 18 or older.