Intermountain Cystic Fibrosis Center

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide).

The Intermountain Cystic Fibrosis Center located at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center and Primary Children’s Medical Center provides healthcare to approximately 425 pediatric and adult patients in the Intermountain region. Our patients travel from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and all of Utah.

We are accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. To maintain this status we must meet clearly-defined clinical, teaching, research and community outreach requirements.

In the United States:

• About 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis are diagnosed each year
• More than 70% of patients are diagnosed by age two
• More than 40% of the CF patient population is age 18 or older
• In 2006 the predicted median age of survival was 37 years. Many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond.

People with CF can have a variety of symptoms, including:

• very salty-tasting skin; 
• persistent coughing, at times with phlegm; 
• frequent lung infections; 
• wheezing or shortness of breath; 
• poor growth/weight gain in spite of a good appetite; and 
• frequent greasy, bulky stools or difficulty in bowel movements.