The symptoms of cystic fibrosis usually appear within the first year of life, but may not appear until late childhood or adolescence. The specific signs and symptoms of CF can vary, depending on the severity of the disease and with age. For example, one child with CF may have respiratory problems but not digestive problems, while another child may have both.
In some newborns the first sign may be a blockage of the intestines (meconium ileus). This occurs when meconium — tarry, greenish-black stools normally passed by an infant in the first day or two after birth — becomes so thick it can't move through the intestines. Other signs in newborns may include a failure to grow, bulky and greasy stools (steatorrhea), and frequent respiratory infections.
The signs and symptoms of CF in children and young adults may include:
- Salty taste to the skin. People with CF tend to have two to five times the normal amount of salt (sodium chloride) in their sweat. This may be one of the first signs parents notice because they taste the salt when they kiss their child.
- Blockage in the bowel.
- Foul-smelling, greasy stools.
- Delayed growth.
- Thick sputum. It's easy for parents to overlook this symptom because infants and young children tend to swallow their sputum rather than cough it up.
- Coughing or wheezing.
- Frequent chest and sinus infections with recurring pneumonia or bronchitis.
- Growths (polyps) in the nasal passages.
- Cirrhosis of the liver due to inflammation or obstruction of the bile ducts.
- Displacement of one part of the intestine into another part of the intestine (intussusception) in children older than age 4.
- Protrusion of part of the rectum through the anus (rectal prolapse). This is often caused by stools that are difficult to pass or by frequent coughing.
- Enlargement or rounding (clubbing) of the fingertips and toes. Although clubbing eventually occurs in most people with CF, it also occurs in some people born with heart disease and other types of lung problems.
