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healthy carriers
- Question
- My niece has CF, the whole family has been tested and two other children are carriers.
So 1 out of 7 children has CF and 2 are carriers.
The other two children are compared to the non carriers often sick, so I told my sister in law who I thought was carrier of CF in her family.
This was correct!
Now my question is if carriers are more susceptible to bronchitis and other problems? After research I did not find anything about it and I don’t believe it is a coincidence.
Best regards,
H.
- Answer
- Thank you for your question. The answer is clearly 'no': carriers of a CF mutation are in general healthy and do not need a treatment. Lung problems and intestinal problems of a carrier are not caused by CF. Another reason for these complaints must be sought. Your doctor can tell you more about it.
Being a carrier of a CF mutation does not cause the disease, because CF is a disease that only manifests itself when you have two CF mutations, one on the gene inherited from the father and one on the gene inherited from the mother. There are even theories that carriers have more resistance against some diseases (read more about this on the question about cholera). However there is some data that suggest that minor respiratory problems or ENT problems (such as rhino-sinusitis, nasal polyps) might be a little more frequent in healthy carriers.
Of course, being a carrier of a CF mutation is no guarantee that you will be healthy. A carrier of a CF mutation may have medical problems that need proper diagnosis and treatment. Moreover, if a carrier has CF suggestive symptoms, (e.g. chronic respiratory infections by specific bacteria, inflammation of the pancreas, male infertility) it can be necessary to do specific tests (all CF gene tests, Nasal potential difference test) in order to exclude with certainty that the person does not have a mild kind of CF (more on this topic on the questions about diagnosis). And of course, if abnormalities in his second CFTR gene surface, then it means he is not a carrier.
You can find more about CF carriers in the archive of ECORN, under "carriers".
Best regards,
Prof. K. De Boeck
- 03.06.2013
