Chancellor's son has cystic fibrosis

The Chancellor and his wife Sarah were told their youngest son might have the condition shortly after his birth in July.

A spokesman for Mr Brown said last night: ''While Gordon and Sarah's younger son, Fraser, has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, he is fit, healthy and making all the progress that you would expect any little boy to make.

''They were told in late July that Fraser may have cystic fibrosis. Tests since then have confirmed this.

''Thousands of other parents are in the same position. They are confident that the advice and treatments available, including proper exercise and, later, sporting activity will keep him fit and healthy.

''The NHS is doing a great job, and Gordon and Sarah are very optimistic that the advances being made in medicine will help him and many others, and they hope to be able to play their part in doing what they can to help others.'' Housing minister Yvette Cooper, a close friend of the Browns' along with her husband Economic Secretary Ed Balls, said they were a ''strong and happy family''.

''Fraser's a lovely, bouncy healthy little boy. He's doing really well. This is the kind of thing that no parent obviously wants to hear, and it was the same for Gordon and Sarah in the summer.

''But they're very optimistic and doing really well and medical advances obviously happen all the time.

Ms Cooper said: "He's very strong and healthy and of course they are getting great support from the NHS to make sure he remains strong and healthy.'' Mr Brown and his wife were hit by tragedy in January 2002 when their first child, daughter Jennifer Jane, died just 10 days after her premature birth.

But the couple were overjoyed in 2003 with the birth of their oldest son John and the family grew again in July of this year with the birth of James Fraser, weighing 7lb 14oz.

Asked about the earlier tragedy, Mrs Cooper said: ''I think obviously this is very different, Fraser is a lovely part of their family and they are all enjoying life and getting on with things, he's doing very well, this is a very different situation now.''

CF is the UK's most common life-threatening, inherited disease, affecting more than 7,500 babies, children and young adults.

Each week three young lives in the UK are lost to CF.

It is a genetic disease that affects a number of organs in the body, especially the lungs and pancreas, by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus.

Symptoms can include repeated chest infections, poor weight gain, troublesome coughs, and prolonged diarrhoea.

CF affects the pancreas, making it difficult for people with the disease to digest food.

This can cause malnutrition, which can lead to poor growth, physical weakness and delayed puberty.

People with CF are prone to osteoporosis (thin, brittle bones) due to the nutritional and other problems involved with the disease.

A combination of physiotherapy and medication can help control lung infections and prevent lung damage.

Dr Jim Littlewood, chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said many babies born with the disease, especially those diagnosed early, will look normal and not suffer from the symptoms.

''They usually look normal, they don't usually have any chest problems to start with,'' Dr Littlewood said.

''Babies will usually get onto long-term antibiotic treatment to prevent infection.

''They will probably need extra antibiotics when they have a cold, and they will sometimes need intravenous antibiotics if it goes onto their chest.

''They will take normal food but need some enzymes to help digest the food, which goes in with the milk, and they will get vitamin supplements.''

Early detection through screening of newborn babies is very important so treatment can begin and the effects of the disease can be minimised.

Newborn screening is currently part of NHS care in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and parts of England, and the Government plans to introduce screening programmes for all newborn babies throughout the UK.

''(Early detection) is very important because it means you can very carefully watch the respiratory tract and if any nasty germs get in you can blast them away,'' he said.

''You can prevent chronic infections of the chest and prevent them getting malnourished.

f they are not screened at birth usually within a few weeks or a month or two they will start getting colds and chestiness which doesn't clear, or they don't put on weight properly.''

With early detection and appropriate treatment many sufferers can go on to lead normal lives, he said.

''At least half of sufferers don't have any symptoms at all and they are growing normally and living a normal life, but they have to have treatment,'' Dr Littlewood said.

One in 25 of the UK population carries the CF gene, usually without knowing it.

If a baby is born with CF, it means that both parents carry the faulty CF gene.

At present there is no cure for the disease, but the faulty gene has been identified and doctors and scientists are working to find ways of repairing or replacing it.

Until the 1930s, the life expectancy of a baby with CF was only a few months.

Today the life expectancy for those with the disease is in the early 30s, and improving every year.