Cystic fibrosis: physiology gone wrong.

Cystic fibrosis (CF), like syphilis, could accurately be described as "the great 
imitator." Many organ systems are involved, and a clear understanding of 
the disease and its many complications is a useful exercise in 
understanding human physiology. CF could be called thick-secretion disease, because all 
exocrine fluids, like pancreatic juice, are thick, or it could be 
called multimystery disease, because there are so many unanswered questions about 
it. Many manifestations of CF are understandable complications of malabsorption, malnutrition 
and the physical and chemical effects of abnormal exocrine secretion; others, 
including the susceptibility to recurrent nasal polyps, the hypersalinized sweat, low 
female fertility and male sterility, given present knowledge, do not make 
physiologic sense. 