Symptoms of cystic fibrosis

The symptoms of cystic fibrosis are excessive salt in sweat, thinness, buildup of thick, sticky mucus in lungs, digestive problems, regular coughing, constipation and short breaths. These usually occur at birth.

Persons with cystic fibrosis produce sweat which contains large amounts of sodium, potassium and chloride salts. Constipation in infants is as a result of meconium ileus, a situation of the intestines blocking. Meconium refers to the first stools of a baby. It consists of the matter that the baby took in during the period of its stay in the uterus. These are mucus, bile, amniotic fluid, epithelial cells in the intestine and lanugo which is soft, colourless hair found in fetuses, and infants.

Ileus is a term used to describe the blockage of the ileum or other part of the intestine. Thus meconium ileus refers to the inability of the meconium to pass out of the ileum due to a blockage. 

 

Thinness is an obvious resultant of the body’s failure to absorb nutrients through the gastrointestinal tract. Some causes of this malfunctioning are long-standing lung infections and a rise in the demand of metabolism due to constant ailments.

Lung diseases arise from the blockage of air passages in the lungs and building up of mucus. This generates inflammation and infections that injure the lungs as well as induce a change in their structure. Consequently, a patient may exhibit these early symptoms, coughing, excess mucus generation and less capacity to exercise.

As the disease progresses, he may suffer complexities in breathing. Moreover, his cough could be filled with blood, a condition known as hemoptysis. The blood pressure in his lungs may escalate this is known as pulmonary hypertension, he may experience heart failure, lack of oxygen for the body (hypoxia) and respiratory problems.

Furthermore, mucus found in paranasal sinuses could create infections which intend generate pain in the face, dripping nose and headache. Paranasal sinuses are a set of four paid air-filled gaps that surround the nasal opening above and between the eyes and behind the ethmoids, which is a square bone found at the root of the nose.

Additionally, patients could develop nasal polyps, which are like pockets of inflamed tissue within the nose. These polyps could obstruct the passages of the nose thereby making it uneasy to breath.

Cystic fibrosis could also cause infertility in males. This happens due to the absence of the inborn vas deferens. The disorder is known as congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). The vas deferens is a tube by which sperm passes from the testi to the ejaculatory duct. A male patient would normally produce sperm which unfortunately would not reach the ejaculatory duct resulting from the mal formation of the vas deferens.

Alternatively, women with cystic fibrosis may face difficulties in child-bearing. Research has shown that such persons have thick cervical mucus that prevents them from becoming pregnant naturally.

Other known symptoms are diabetes and glucose intolerance that usually exist in persons with cystic fibrosis.