2024-02-29 04:23:23
With sinusitis, one or more mucous membranes of the paranasal sinuses become inflamed. These are small cavities behind the cheekbones and forehead that contain air. It is known from previous studies that various lung irritants, including air pollution and respiratory infections, may be associated with the development of rheumatoid arthritis. However, it was not clear whether other rheumatic diseases might arise from sinusitis.
Scientists from the Mayo Clinic (USA) and Harvard Medical School (USA) conducted a study and found that sinusitis increases the risk of rheumatic diseases by 40%. Relevant scientific article publishedforged magazine RMD Open.
The researchers looked at data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, which included medical records of more than half a million people from 1966 to 2014. All patients lived in Olmsted County, Minnesota. The sample included 1,729 adults with an average age of 63 years who were diagnosed with various rheumatic diseases:
– rheumatoid arthritis,
– antiphospholipid syndrome (blood clotting disorder),
– Sjögren’s syndrome (impaired production of fluids, such as tears and saliva),
– vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels),
– giant cell arteritis (inflammation of the temporal artery),
– polymyalgia rheumatica (muscle pain and stiffness).
Data from each individual in the sample were compared with information from three patients of the same sex and age at diagnosis but without rheumatic diseases. Other factors that might influence the occurrence of diseases were also taken into account: body mass index, smoking, race, nationality. The link between sinusitis and rheumatic diseases was strongest in people who never smoked.
On average, patients developed rheumatic disease a little later than seven and a half years following the episode of sinusitis. If there was a history of sinusitis, the risk of any of these diseases increased to 40%. The strongest association was with autoimmune rheumatic diseases: antiphospholipid syndrome (seven times higher risk) and Sjögren’s syndrome (more than twice the risk). The more often people suffered from sinusitis, the more likely the likelihood of a rheumatic diagnosis increased.
The researchers emphasized that their work has a number of limitations. For example, two-thirds of the sample were women, there were more white patients than other races, and not many rheumatic diseases were considered. In addition, the cause-and-effect relationship may be reversed: it is possible that rheumatic diseases increase the risk of sinusitis.
However, the authors of the scientific article explained, bacterial pathogens associated with sinusitis may also be related to rheumatic diseases. Sinusitis also speeds up the hardening of the arteries, making its potential inflammatory effects more likely.
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