This slideshow explains what CF is and what people who have it go through. In the pictures are my little cousins who have the disease. As you can see they look very normal, but they go through a lot everyday. So please help make their lives easier and donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Thank you for your time! You can contact me at jskelt02@yahoo.com or donate right on my homepage: http://www.cff.org/great_strides/dsp_donationPage.cfm?registeringwalkid=5867&idUser=266160

1. Jessica Skelton

2. Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited
disease. It affects the lungs and
digestive system of about
30,000 people in the United
States (70,000 worldwide). It
causes the body to produce
unusually thick, sticky mucus
that clogs the lungs and leads
to life-threatening lung
infections. It also hurts the
pancreas and stops natural
enzymes from helping the
body break down and absorb
food.

3. Testing for the Disease.
There are several ways to test for CF, but a
few are:
Genetic Carrier Testing — Most carriers of
the defective CF gene do not have symptoms.
To have CF, a child must inherit one copy of
the defective gene from each parent. Each
time two carriers have a child, the chances
are: 25% the child will have CF; 50% the child
will only carry the CF gene; and 25% the
child will not carry the gene or have CF.
Newborn Screening — Newborns can
benefit greatly from being diagnosed and
medicated early on, which can improve
growth, improve lung function, reduce
hospital stays, and allow them to live longer.
Newborn screening is not 100% accurate, but
it may lead to tests that can rule out or
confirm a diagnosis.

4. Sweat Test — If a

person has symptoms
of CF, it is common
that a doctor have this
test done. It is a
simple and painless
test, and is the best
way to diagnose CF. It
measures the
concentration of salt
in a person’s sweat. A
high salt level means
they have CF.

5. •Very salty-tasting skin;
•Persistent coughing, at
times with phlegm;
•Frequent lung infections;
•Wheezing or shortness of
breath;
•Poor growth/weight gain
in spite of a good appetite;
and
•Frequent greasy, bulky
stools or difficulty in
bowel movements.

6. Treatments...
Though there is no cure for CF,
there are many treatments for
the disease. Here are a few:
Inhaled Drugs, such as the
ones shown in the pictures to
the right, which are used
because they reach the airways
quickly and easily. A few
treatments that are taken
through inhalation are mucus
thinners, antibiotics used to
treat infections, such as lung
infections, another is to bring
more water into the airways so
make it easier to cough up
mucus.

7. More
Treatments…
are used to fight
Antibiotics
infection-causing bacteria, which are
mainly in the lungs. Antibiotics may
come in three different forms: oral,
IV’s, or inhaled.
Physical Therapy or the chest
Chest
vest, such as the one shown on the
right, vibrates the chest at a very
high frequency to loosen mucus so it
can be easily coughed up. When the
child is under two, the vest cannot
be used. In this case, the person
performing the therapy would cup
their hand and tap on the child’s left
side, right side, chest, and back for
several minutes to break up mucus.

8. Mary G. Weiss became a volunteer for

the CF Foundation in 1965 after finding
out her three sons had CF. Her job was
to call every civic club, social and
service organization finding financial
support for research. Mary's 4-year-old
son, Richard, listened to his mom as
she made her calls.
After a few calls, Richard told his

Mom, quot;I know what you are working
for.quot; Mary was curious because
Richard did not know what she was
doing, as a matter of fact, he did not
know he had CF. So Mary asked,
quot;What am I working for, Richard?quot; He
answered, quot;You are working for 65
Roses.quot; This left her speechless and
brought tears to her eyes. She then told
him, quot;Yes Richard, I'm working for 65
Roses.”

9. Great Strides are steps taken to make a difference in
helping to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Helping to make
CF stand for Cure Found. These are a few of the walk sites
in Massachusetts for May of 2009.
ID Walk City Walk Site Date of Walk Check In Time
1 Billerica Boys and Girls Club 5/17/2009 9:00AM
2 Dedham Endicott Estate 5/17/2009 11:00AM
3 Hyannis Veteran's Park 5/17/2009 12:00PM
4 Lexington Hayden Recreational Area 5/16/2008 9:00AM
5 Lynnfield Town Common 5/17/2009 11:00AM
6 Mendon Southwick's Zoo 5/17/2009 9:00AM
7 North Andover Hermann Youth Center 5/16/2009 9:00AM
8 Northampton JFK Middle School 5/17/2009 9:00AM
9 Plymouth Plymouth Memorial State Park 5/17/2009 9:00AM
10 Quincy Waterworks at Marina Bay 5/17/2009 9:00AM
11 Shelburne Falls Buckland/Shelburne Elemantary 5/17/2009 1:00PM
12 Wakefield Town Common 5/16/2009 9:30AM
13 West Springfield Mittneaque Park 5/17/2009 9:00AM
14 Worcester Town Common 5/17/2009 11:00AM

11. •Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
•What is Cystic Fibrosis?
•Medline Plus
•In the pictures are my three little
cousins, Alyssa, 6, Kailey, 3, and Addisyn, 17
months. Alyssa and Addisyn both have CF.
Kailey may be a carrier or may be free of the
disease completely.
•Cystic Fibrosis Video -I tried to get this video on
one of the slides but because it is on you tube it
would not let me. I think it is worth watching.