Cystic fibrosis is a serious disease which is normally fatal in early adulthood. This is largely due to the damaging effects on the lungs. This is one of the reasons why gene therapy techniques for cystic fibrosis are targeting lung tissues. Gene therapy aims to introduce functional copies of the cystic fibrosis genes into epithelial cells of the lung. There are other symptoms of cystic fibrosis, of course, associated with the other affected epithelial cells in the body.
Patients produce salty sweat, which is one of the ways of diagnosing the disease.
The secretion of digestive enzymes into the intestine from the pancreas is blocked by sticky mucus, and this affects the digestion of food. Patients with cystic fibrosis risk being under-nourished.