the smoking promotes sinus inflammation and chronic rhinosinusitisaccording to the results of a study published in the medical journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis who quit smoking will see their condition improve over a period of about 10 years.
Previous studies have shown that smoking harms the sinuses. It alters the nasal walls, making the sinuses unable to clear mucus as well as that of a non-smoker. It also promotes irritation and inflammation, thus snoring and it disrupts the bacterial microbiome of the sinus.
Smoking harms sinus health
To better understand how the smoking exacerbates clinical symptoms and impacts quality of life in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, otorhinolaryngology experts at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in the USA measured symptom severity and medication use over time in 103 ex-smokers and 103 non-smokers. Compared to non-smokers, smokers expressed more severe disease symptoms and reported using more antibiotics and oral corticosteroids (used to reduce inflammation in sick sinus syndrome).
The researchers also found that among former smokers, each year without smoking was associated with a statistically significant improvement in symptoms and a reduction in medication use. They believe that the reversible effects of smoking on chronic rhinosinusitis may disappear after 10 years.
“Our study examined clinically significant indicators associated with chronic rhinosinusitis by measuring the quality of symptoms and the amount of medication needed,” said lead author Ahmad R. Sedaghat, sinus surgeon at Mass. Eye and Ear and assistant professor of otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School. “We found that all of our measures for the severity of the chronic rhinosinusitis declined to levels of non-smokers over a decade.
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