Cystic fibrosis (CF) affects more than 30,000 children and young adults in the United States alone. It can be either mild or severe, varying from person to person. CF is a hereditary disease that causes certain glands to produce abnormal secretions, resulting in tissue and organ damage. This disease affects the lungs and the pancreas of the individual. Since there are many degrees at which CF can affect a person it does not affect every person the same way. Some handle it worse than others do, but a person with CF is just like everyone else in almost everyway. This paper will cover exactly what CF is, the history of it, how a person contracts the disease, the symptoms, and the social implications of the disease.

The knowledge that CF existed has been around for hundreds of years. Although it was not until 1938 that scientists believed they...