In July, CFFC started publishing tidbits of information about CF and CFFC on its Facebook page. Following the trend of “Throwback Thursdays” (TBT), a piece of historical information is posted each Thursday. The Monday posts cover current information under the heading “Did You Know” (DYK).
To share this information with those who are not Facebook users (or those who have not yet “liked” the CFFC page), the July posts are shared here.
- 7/2/15 – TBT – Cystic fibrosis was first recognized as a specific disease by Dorothy Andersen in 1938, with descriptions that fit the condition occurring at least as far back as 1595. The name cystic fibrosis refers to the characteristic fibrosis and cysts that form within the pancreas.
- 7/6/15 – DYK – About 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide) have CF.
- 7/9/15 – TBT – Cystic Fibrosis Family Connection (CFFC) was incorporated effective May 27, 1993 by a group of parents of children with CF.
- 7/13/15 – DYK – People living with CF are eligible for CFFC’s Hospital Help Packets with every hospitalization regardless of the reason.
- 7/16/15 – TBT – In 1988, the first mutation for CF, ΔF508, was discovered by Francis Collins, Lap-Chee Tsui and John R. Riordan on the seventh chromosome.
- 7/20/15 – DYK – There are more than 1,800 known mutations of the CF gene.
- 7/23/15 – TBT – The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was established in 1955 by a group of volunteers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE: Cystic Fibrosis Family Connection (CFFC) is distinct from, and not affiliated with, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF).
- 7/27/15 – DYK – CFFC is often confused with CFF. Cystic Fibrosis Family Connection (CFFC) is a local not-for-profit that supplements the services provided by other organizations in the Rochester/Finger Lakes region. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) is a national organization that primarily raises money to fund research into treatments and (eventually) a cure for CF.
- 7/30/15 – TBT – The sweat test has been the “gold standard” for diagnosing cystic fibrosis (CF) for more than 50 years.