Cystic Fibrosis

[Death]

I recently read an article on CF and it said that a defective or missing CFTR protein can lead to an enzyme imbalance which ultimately leads to overproduction of ceramide, a fatty compound, that increases the risk of getting chronic lung infections.

What are the social, political and economic implications of this??

 

[slave1]

i dont know if this is the right place to put this. and i really dont think it has that big of a political impact. maybe a small economic impact.

 

[M.K]

I recently read an article on CF and it said that a defective or missing CFTR protein can lead to an enzyme imbalance which ultimately leads to overproduction of ceramide, a fatty compound, that increases the risk of getting chronic lung infections.

What are the social, political and economic implications of this??

Social: The infected may be confined to a respirator and/or in a hospital. They will have to clear their throat always, and it might be a hindrance when associating with other people.

Economic: Some jobs, including those that require hard labor, might be off-limits to someone with CF, as they require a healthy lung..

 

[_Phloat_]

What are the social, political and economic implications of this??

I read this, then read your signature immediately after.

I loled.

Anyways, we are learning about this in Biology, specifically the mutations that can cause it. Interesting topic would pop up, are you studying this in school?

 

[Death]

Yeah actually were are studying this along with other respiratory disorders in school.

 

[SuperBowser]

Social implications are probably the worst. Harder to make friends, they tend to resent the constant and time consuming treatment they get in the teenage years, more stress in the family, siblings are more likely to underperform at school and I think there's a higher chance of depression for everyone in the family.

It might suck if you're in a private health care system too but I don't really know...

 

[Xsyven]

Yeah actually were are studying this along with other respiratory disorders in school.

You're not using this thread for an answer on some sort of homework assignment, are you?

 

[Lixivium]

I recently read an article on CF and it said that a defective or missing CFTR protein can lead to an enzyme imbalance which ultimately leads to overproduction of ceramide, a fatty compound, that increases the risk of getting chronic lung infections.

What are the social, political and economic implications of this??

Check your facts before asking questions.

Cystic fibrosis leads to defective chloride ion channels and excessive mucus production. It does not cause overproduction of ceramide.

Excess ceramide is related to Farber's disease, which is a ceramidase deficiency. Ceramidase is an enzyme that breaks down ceramide.

 

[Death]

Haha, no... What would make you think that Xsyven??

On the flip side of the coin, the social implications that CF can be caused by the overproduction of ceramide means that many people will be able to be treated with drugs such as amitriptyline which can normalize the enzyme imbalance caused by the defective CFTR protein...

EDIT: Okay... http://sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/9561/title/Take_a_Breath_Fatty_substance_may_play_role_in_cystic_fibrosis

And I never said that the enzyme imbalance will lead TO CF, I merely said that the overproduction of ceramide can lead to the chronic lung infections, which can lead to respiratory failure. Patients without the CFTR gene already HAVE CF.