 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Both parents must be carriers of a cystic fibrosis gene for a child to be born with the disorder. However, carriers have no symptoms and often have no idea that they carry the cystic fibrosis gene. Even when both parents carry a cystic fibrosis gene, the chances are only one in four that a child will be born with the disorder, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
About 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis, and it's most common in white people of Northern European descent, although people from all races can be born with cystic fibrosis, according to NHLBI.
The new research included data from the New England Newborn Screening Program and the Massachusetts Cystic Fibrosis Newborn Screening Work Group.
Text Continues Below
Comeau said the researchers believe that the decrease in the incidence of the ΔF508/ΔF508 type, as well as other forms of cystic fibrosis, owes to prenatal screening to see if parents are carriers of a cystic fibrosis gene.
She said the most important implication of this research, however, is for people evaluating treatments for cystic fibrosis. She said it's very important for such researchers to know that "the cohort of children may be changing. If you test a treatment on kids inherently bound to have a less severe disease, you have to be careful when applying those findings to all kids," Comeau said.
Dr. David Orenstein, director of the Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Cystic Fibrosis Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said, "This study raises an interesting possibility. There have been some other geographic areas where this same trend toward lower birth rates or fewer children born with cystic fibrosis has been observed, and so it's possible that it's real. But, these things do go up and down a bit naturally."
Orenstein said he'd have liked to have seen the data broken down by ethnic groups, since the disease is more prevalent in people of Northern European descent. But, he also pointed out that the numbers of children included in this study were very small, which means the findings need to be confirmed.
More information
To learn more about cystic fibrosis and available genetic tests, visit the March of Dimes.
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
|
.gif)
