Your ever-crowded sinuses could be a harbinger of more problems along the way, new research suggests on Friday. The small study found evidence of a link between chronic sinus inflammation and altered brain activity, possibly harmful. The findings do not necessarily show that the two things are directly connected, but highlight the need for further study.
sinuses are the empty spaces around our nasal cavity and are thought to mainly keep the nose moist and protected by providing mucus. They can occasionally become inflamed for short periods of time due to infections, but some people are quite unhappy about developing chronic inflammation of the sinuses or chronic rhinosinusitis.
Of course, no one feels as good as possible with a lock nose and there have been suggested in recent years a link between chronic sinus inflammation and decreased cognition. Studies have found, for example, that patients perform worse in cognate testsactive function than similar control subjects and that their performance IMPROVES after they begin to receive treatment for their condition. And the patients themselves described that they felt a sense of “brain fog“Besides their other physical symptoms, which may include nasal congestionion, reduced taste and odor and pain or facial discomfort.
This new study, published Friday in otorhinolaryngology JAMA – Head and neck surgery, seems to be one of the first to try to look for the physical foundations of this connection. The researchers examined data from the Human Connectome Project, a USA government-sponsored study of the human brain. The project is an attempt to map and understand brain circuits and how these connections actually help the body function. It is largely based on neuroimaging data collected from more than 1,000 healthy volunteers and young adults, who also suffered a battery of gears.usteste tive.
From this project, the researchers analyzed a group of 22 people who appeared to have chronic sinus inflammation and compared them to a similar group of people without inflammation. Compared to the control group, people with sinus inflammation appeared to have a decrease in functional connectivity in key brain areas to knowledge: the frontoparietal network, which helps us stay focused and solve problems, and the evidence network, which helps us distinguish important importance. stimulates and plays a role in our ability to communicate and other social behaviors. They have also discovered increased network connectivity by default, which is most active when we are rested and not focusing on any particular task, such as while daydreaming.
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Importantly, people with chronic sinus inflammation did not actually perform poorer on average on cognitive tests than did the control group. But the findings suggest that something might be going on in their brains that is significantly different from those without inflammation and in ways that could explain the symptoms of brain fog that patients may experience. Because the people in this study were young, it is also possible that there are still more visible changes in knowledge about inflammation – changes that could occur if their inflammation were untreated.
However, the authors are careful to frame their research as proof of concept, an attempt to show that this link needs to be studied more closely. This further research could not only confirm that sinus inflammation can damage our brains, but also provide opportunities for more treatments for the common condition. Chronic inflammation of the sinuses is thought to affect just as much as one of 10 Americans. TAlthough there are treatments such as antibiotics or surgery, they are often repeated and it can take years for patients to find lasting relief.
The next step would be to study people who have been clinically diagnosed with chronic sinusitis. It could involve scanning patients’ brains, then providing a typical treatment for sinus disease with medication or surgery, and then scanning again afterwards to see if their brain activity has changed. Or we could look for inflammatory molecules or markers in patients’ bloodstream, “said lead author Arie Jafari, a surgeon and assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine. statement from the university.
For now, the team hopes their findings will at least make doctors more aware that this chronic condition could affect their patients more deeply. ways.
“Our care should not be limited to relieving the most obvious physical symptoms, but the entire burden of the patient’s illness,” Jafari said.