Did you know that cystic fibrosis (CF) is sometimes called “65 roses”? This life threatening disease got its nickname from a little boy who overheard his mother talking on the phone about this condition. Every time he heard his mother say, “cystic fibrosis,” he thought she was talking about 65 roses.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease of the mucous and sweat glands. It affects mainly your lungs, pancreas, intestines, liver, sex organs and sinuses. Cystic fibrosis affects the cells that make mucous, sweat, saliva and digestive juices.

These secretions are usually slippery and thin. If you have cystic fibrosis, however, these secretions become sticky and thick. The secretions stop up ducts, passageways and tubes, especially in your pancreas and lungs. The most dangerous result of cystic fibrosis is respiratory failure.

It is estimated that about 30,000 people have cystic fibrosis in America, and about 70,000 worldwide. About 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis are diagnosed every year.

More than 70% of the patients are diagnosed by age 2. More than 40% of the people with cystic fibrosis are 18 or older. The median age of survival for people with cystic fibrosis in 2006 was 37.

There are a variety of ways that cystic fibrosis may affect you. These signs and symptoms may be different depending on your age.

With infants the first sign of cystic fibrosis may be a blockage of their intestines. Other indications in newborns are:

• Frequent lung infections
• Extremely salty-tasting skin
• Wheezing or shortness of breath
• Persistent coughing, at times with phlegm
• Frequent bulky, greasy stools or difficulty with bowel movements
• Poor weight/growth gain in spite of good appetite
• Abdominal swelling
• Vomiting
• Dehydration.

In children and young adults some of the signs and symptoms are:

• Foul-smelling, greasy stools
• Blockage in the bowels
• A salty taste to the skin
• Thick sputum
• Delayed growth
• Frequent sinus and chest infections with recurring bronchitis or pneumonia
• Rounding or enlargement of the toes and fingertips
• Protrusion of part of the rectum through the anus.

Cystic fibrosis can also involve cirrhosis of the liver, displacement of one part of your intestine into another part of the intestine and growths in your nasal passages.

Is cystic fibrosis preventing you from working? Is this disorder the cause of your disability?

Have you applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by cystic fibrosis? Were you denied?

If you are thinking about appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, you will need a disability lawyer like the one at socialsecurityhome.com to assist you in this process. This is true because people who are represented by a disability attorney are approved more often than those people who do not have a lawyer.