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Syosset High School announced that their student government will be conducting a phone-a-thon Tuesday evening, Oct. 20, and Thursday evening, Oct. 22, to support vital research in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis. This event will raise awareness about cystic fibrosis while supporting research and patient care programs through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening genetic disease that affects over 30,000 people in the United States. More than 10 million Americans are symptomless carriers of the CF gene. Currently, there is no cure.
Through the development of treatments and drug therapies funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation since its inception in 1955, the median age of survival has increased from five years to 37 years of age. Recent scientific breakthroughs that target the basic defect that causes CF have supplied a control for the disease. This drug, called Kalydeco, affects 4 percent of the CF population. Similar medications are currently in human trials and, if effective, will help another 85 percent of those struggling with CF.
On July 2, the FDA approved the drug for people with CF ages 12 and older who have two copies of the F508del mutation, representing 8,500 people or nearly one-third of the CF population in the United States. Nearly half of individuals with CF have two copies of this mutation and could eventually benefit from the therapy.
The student government at Syosset High School understands the importance of funding CF research and that is why they will be spending two evenings volunteering their time calling families within their school district. Since 1993, they have raised more than $200,000. Please support them as they “call for a cure.”
You can also donate online to the Syosset High School Student Government’s Phone -A- Thon program by visiting www.fightcf.cff.org/goto/syossetstudentgov
For more information, visit the CFF website at www.longisland.cff.org.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the leading organization devoted to curing and controlling cystic fibrosis. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the foundation funds CF research, has more than 70 chapter and branch offices throughout the country, and supports and accredits a nationwide network of more than 115 CF care centers which provide vital treatments and other CF resources to patients and families.
