History

• Cystic Fibrosis was first described by Dr. Dorothy Andersen (pathologist in New York Babies Hospital) in 1938.
  • Examined a deceased child that had supposedly died of celiac disease.
  • She noticed that there was extensive damage to the pancreas and realized she was working with a disease not medically recognized. 
  • Andersen named the disease Cystic Fibrosis and gave a presentation of her discovery at a meeting of the American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Research on May 5, 1938.
  • Criticized by others in the medical field for taking her research too far. 
  • Her research team found that those afflicted with the disease had higher levels of salt in their sweat. This led to a much more simple test to determine if a child has cystic fibrosis.
  • She was also a pioneer in the understanding of the genetics behind the disorder.^[1]  

^[2]

• 17th Century infants may have had Cystic Fibrosis as the German Children's Songs and Games from Switzerland states,"The child will soon die whose forehead tastes salty when kissed."
• Landsteiner depicted the obstruction of intestines of newborns that results from Cystic Fibrosis in 1905.
• Throughout the thirties there were reports of children suffering from pancreatic changes that were relative to the symptoms of CF.^[3]  

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