Nikki
CF is a genetic disorder so, other than careful screening and making sure that carriers don't mate with other carriers, there isn't any prevention from spreading the genetic marker. Even if we did segregate carriers from marrying other carriers, a carrier could marry someone without the gene and their children have a 2 in 4 chance of becomming a carrier. So far, there has been no evidence that being a carrier is harmful to your health. To the contrary, I once read an article that doctors think that having 1/2 of the gene (being a carrier) might in some way be beneficial to your health. There is no cure but there are ways to control the damage done to the internal organs. People with CF today are living into their 40's and 50's unlike in the 1960-70 when the live span was 9-10 years old. Also CF affects people in so many different ways. My neighbor was 31 when she found out she had CF. For years it had been misdiagnosed. My sister is 17 and dealing with CF. She has only had pnuemonia 3 times so far. Her CF tends to be generalized in her digestive system. She is starting to have problems with hypoglycemia and eventually it may progress into diabetes mellitus.