Chronic sinus inflammation associated with changes in brain activity

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Your constantly crowded sinuses may herald further problems in the future, a new study conducted on Friday suggests. A small study found evidence of an association between chronic sinusitis and altered, perhaps detrimental brain activity. The findings do not necessarily prove that the two are directly related, but they do highlight the need for further research.

The· Paranasal sinus Is a hollow space around our nasal passages, which is believed to protect the nose primarily by moisturizing and providing mucus. The infection can cause short-term inflammation, but if you are unlucky, some people will develop chronic sinusitis or chronic sinusitis.

Of course no one feels great I was blocked Nose, and tHere are some recent tips on the link between chronic sinusitis and cognitive decline...Studies, for example, patients Execute Deteriorated by testing their perceptionMore aggressive function and performance than similarly matched control subjects Improve After they begin to be treated for their condition. And the patient himself saidForgetfulnessIn addition to other Physical symptomsCan include nasal congestionIons, decreased taste and smell, facial pain and discomfort.

This new study, Release JAMA Otolaryngology Friday – Head and Neck Surgery seems to be one of the first to seek out the physical basis of this link.Researcher investigated Data from the Human Connectome Project in the United States A government-sponsored study of the human brain. This project is an attempt to map and understand the circuits of the brain and how these connections actually help the body function. It is primarily based on neuroimaging data collected from over 1,000 healthy, young adult volunteers.niTib test.

From this project, researchers examined a group of 22 people who appeared to have chronic sinusitis and compared it to a similar group without inflammation.Compared to the control group, people with sinusitis appeared to have reduced functional connectivity in areas of the brain that are key to cognition: to maintain concentration and solve problems. Useful frontal and parietal networks and saliency networks that help distinguish what is important and play a role in our communication skills And other social behavior. They also found improved connectivity in default mode networks. This is most active when we are resting and is not focused on a particular task, such as daydreaming.

Importantly, people with chronic sinusitis did not actually worsen on average in cognitive tests than in the control group. However, findings suggest that something may be happening in the brain in a way that is significantly different from non-inflammatory ones and can explain the symptoms of brain fog that patients may experience. doing. Since the people in this study were young, it is possible that more significant changes in cognition associated with inflammation have not yet emerged. Changes that can occur if inflammation is not treated.

Still, the authors carefully assemble their work as a proof of concept. This is an attempt to show that this link needs to be scrutinized more closely. This further study not only confirms that sinus inflammation can harm our brain, but may also offer more treatment opportunities to find common conditions. Hmm.Chronic sinusitis is thought to affect many people As 1 in 10 American. TThere are treatments such as antibiotics and surgery, which often recur and can take years for the patient to find permanent relief.

“The next step is to study people who have been clinically diagnosed with chronic sinusitis. To do this, scan the patient’s brain and provide typical treatment for sinus disease with drugs and surgery. It may then include scanning again to see if brain activity has changed, or you can look for inflammatory molecules or markers in the patient’s bloodstream, “said Washington University. Arie Jafari, lead author and surgeon and assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the School of Medicine, said: statement From college.

For now, the team wants their findings to at least make doctors more aware that this chronic condition may have a deeper impact on their patients. Method.

“Our care should not be limited to relieving the most obvious physical symptoms, but should reduce the full burden of the patient’s illness,” said Jaffari.