Other organs may be affected which may cause various other problems in some cases. Also, the pancreas and airways may become severely affected. Therefore, other problems which may also occur in some cases include:

• Repeated sinus infections.
• Polyps forming in the nose.
• Infertility (especially in males as the tubes which carry the sperm can become blocked).
• Damage to the liver which may lead to cirrhosis occurs in about 1 in 12 cases (if the small ducts in the liver become blocked or damaged).
• Diabetes. (Special cells in the pancreas make insulin. If the pancreas becomes severely damaged over time then insulin levels go down and diabetes may develop.) This is rare in children but is more common in adults who have had cystic fibrosis for years.
• Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).
• Rectal prolapse.
• Constipation.
• Osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) may develop due to poor absorption of food, and in particular, poor absorption of vitamin D which is needed to maintain healthy bones.
• The sweat tastes very salty.

General

Ongoing poor nutrition combined with persistent lung symptoms and repeated chest infections often causes 'failure to thrive' in young children, delayed maturation and sexual development in teenagers, and general poor health at any age.

Mild cases

Recently, some cases of cystic fibrosis have been diagnosed in adults who have relatively mild symptoms. This may be due to some mutations of the cystic fibrosis gene not being as 'faulty' as others. The handling of sodium and chloride may only be mildly affected in these cases.

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