Are there any risk factors that make mothers more likely to have children with cystic fibrosis?
Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disease that causes certain glands to produce abnormal secretions, resulting in tissue and organ damage, especially in the lungs and the digestive tract. Cystic fibrosis is the most common inherited disease leading to a shortened life span among white people in the United States. It occurs in about 1 of 3,300 white infants and in 1 of 15,300 black infants. It is rare in Asians. Cystic fibrosis is equally common in boys and girls. Cystic fibrosis results when a person inherits two defective copies (mutations) of a particular gene. This gene controls the production of a protein that regulates the transport of chloride and sodium (salt) across cell membranes. Worldwide, about 3 of 100 white people carry one defective copy of the gene; thus, they are carriers but they themselves do not get sick. About 3 of 10,000 white people inherit two defective copies of the gene; thus, they develop cystic fibrosis. In these people, chloride and sodium transport is disrup
