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Show ' A baby IS born. Though its eyes I cannot sort out the blurred images before it, it knows something is different. A whole world I' out there, fascinating in its newness and enor- . mity. For now, all is wonder. Each day is a I new discovery as the baby touches, crawls, k' listens, speaks. r But for thousands of babies, that explor- i ing will end abruptly, long before nature had intended. They are born with cystic fibrosis. 1 Cystic fibrosis kills. It violates the natural order. The disease affects young people . . . in- I fants to young adults . . . innocent, defenseless V youth . . . youth who deserve a fair crack at I the future. But most of them will never get J that chance. Half of them will be dead before 1 they leave their teens. 1 A chronic, degenerative disease, cystic I fibrosis primarily attacks the lungs and diges- i tive system, where an abnormal accumulation V of thick, glue-like mucus suffocates and I starves the body. CF is the number one 1 genetic killer of American young people. ! Every day, every five hours, a child is born with CF. Every day, every eight hours, a child i or young adult dies from CF. I At present, there is no cure or long- V term control for CF. An estimated 10 million people one 1 out of every 20 Americans are symptom-free, currently undetectable I carriers of the gene that causes CF. |