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Cystic fibrosis patients got their ‘miracle drug’ thanks to federal research funding – new Trump administration rules may cut future miracles short

<name>Fred D. Ledley, Director, Center for Integration of Science and Industry, Bentley University</name> <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="https://theconversation.com/profiles/fred-d-ledley-1503077"/>· 14 octobre 2026

Prior to effective treatments, it was difficult for children with cystic fibrosis to live full lives. Chris Carlson/AP Photo The hardest disease to care for when I was training as a pediatrician in the late 1970s was cystic fibrosis , a disease in which abnormally thick mucus secretions block the l…

Résumé

Cystic fibrosis in the 1970s

In the late 1970s, cystic fibrosis was a devastating disease with no cure.

It caused thick mucus to block the lungs, making breathing increasingly difficult over time.

Patients often suffered from chronic pneumonia, antibiotic-resistant infections, and complications like diabetes, malnutrition, and heart failure.

Treatments were limited to physical therapy to clear mucus, drugs to open airways, and high-dose antibiotics.

The median age of death for children with cystic fibrosis in 1979 was just 15 years, making it a heartbreaking condition that robbed young patients of adulthood.

The disease was progressive and inevitably fatal, leaving families and doctors with few options to slow its progression.

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