When was cystic fibrosis first identified

Andersen saw these abnormalities in the pancreas, she then went into further studies and correlated it to disease in the lung — thus coining and then studying cystic fibrosis for the pancreas.

Over the next 20 years she conducted additional research into why the pancreas in these cadavers was abnormal. She and her team of researchers then moved from studying the organs of cadavers to studying and diagnosing CF in living people. In , her fellow researcher at Columbia, Dr. The sweat test remains the gold standard in CF screening today.

Dorothy Andersen was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in , and at age 13 moved with her mother to Vermont after the death of her Danish father. Andersen then returned to the Northeast, where she completed a surgical internship at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, and taught anatomy at the University of Rochester.

Despite her accomplishments, Dr. Andersen was denied a surgical residency at Strong because of her gender. While an instructor of pathology at Columbia, between and , Dr. He discovered that the sweat of children with CF had abnormally high concentrations of salt. In the s, the protein defect was described, and the responsible gene CFTR was identified and its genetic code sequenced.

With each decade, new therapies have been introduced, leading to a dramatic increase in survival. In recent years, public awareness of CF has risen dramatically.

In the s and s, a variety of organizations were formed worldwide to educate patients, families and the public about CF. This new therapy is a much-needed alternative to antibiotics for CF patients who battle recurrent infections and develop resistance to existing antibiotics. Diagnosis at an early age is critical to establishing care. The drug is the first to address the underlying cause of CF and opens exciting new doors to research and development that may lead to a cure for all people living with the disease.

This includes collaborative programs to create virtual conferences, use community insights to actively shape research and programs, offer peer support, and fund ideas that impact the broader CF community. This historic breakthrough means that for the first time the majority of the CF population could eventually have a highly effective therapy for the underlying cause of their disease.

Skip to main content. Our History Since our founding in , we have worked alongside the cystic fibrosis community to effectively transform a genetic disease in a single generation — making CF one of the most amazing stories in medicine today.

Milestones : Dorothy Andersen, MD, publishes the first characterization of a disease mysteriously taking the lives of children: cystic fibrosis.