What is the life expectancy for someone with CF?
Life expectancy is tricky question because it is a moving target. The most recent data from 2004 shows a median predicted survival of 35 years of age, and the predicted age is steadily improving over the years. But some patients have a milder form of the disease, at times not even detected until adulthood. These people have a better prognosis and can live into their senior years. When we look in our registry, we see continued improvements in survival in each successive cohort, so we believe that a baby born with CF today will likely live into their 40’s and perhaps 50’s with the tools available to us today. But we certainly expect additional breakthroughs in treatment over that time frame, so it’s hard to predict where we will be, but we are certainly optimistic. That said, there’s still a lot of work to be done. What advice do you give parents of children who have just been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis? It’s important to learn all that you can about the disease. Check the CF Foundat
