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Mold Lawyer.
Mayo Clinic Study Implicates
Fungus
as Cause of Chronic Sinusitis
"We can now
begin to treat the cause of the problem instead of the symptoms"
ROCHESTER, MINN. -- Mayo
Clinic researchers say they have found the cause of most chronic sinus
infections -- an immune system response to fungus. They say this discovery
opens the door to the first effective treatment for this problem, the most
common chronic disease in the United States.
An estimated 37 million
people in the United States suffer from chronic sinusitis, an inflammation
of the membranes of the nose and sinus cavity. Its incidence has been
increasing steadily over the last decade. Common symptoms are runny nose,
nasal congestion, loss of smell and headaches. Frequently the chronic
inflammation leads to polyps, small growths in the nasal passages which
hinder breathing.
"Up to now, the cause of
chronic sinusitis has not been known," say the Mayo researchers: Drs.
David Sherris, Eugene Kern and Jens Ponikau , Mayo Clinic ear, nose and
throat specialists. Their report appears in the September issue of the
journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
"Fungus allergy was thought
to be involved in less than ten percent of cases," says Dr. Sherris. "Our
studies indicate that, in fact, fungus is likely the cause of nearly all
of these problems. And it is not an allergic reaction, but an immune
reaction."
The researchers studied 210
patients with chronic sinusitis. Using new methods of collecting and
testing mucus from the nose, they discovered fungus in 96 percent of the
patients' mucus. They identified a total of 40 different kinds of fungi in
these patients, with an average of 2.7 kinds per patient.
In a subset of 101 patients
who had surgery to remove nasal polyps, the researchers found eosinophils
(a type of white blood cell activated by the body's immune system) in the
nasal tissue and mucus of 96 percent of the patients.
The results, the
researchers say, clearly portray a disease process in which, in sensitive
individuals, the body's immune system sends eosinophils to attack fungi
and the eosinophils irritate the membranes in the nose. As long as fungi
remain, so will the irritation.
"This a potential
breakthrough that offers great hope for the millions of people who suffer
from this problem," says Dr. Kern. "We can now begin to treat the cause of
the problem instead of the symptoms."
More research is underway
at Mayo Clinic to confirm that the immune response to the fungus is the
cause of the sinus inflammation. The researchers are also working with
pharmaceutical companies to set up trials to test medications to control
the fungus. They estimate that it will be at least two years before a
treatment will be widely available.
The researchers distinguish
chronic sinusitis -- sinusitis that lasts three months or longer -- from
acute sinusitis, which lasts a month or less. They say that the cause of
the acute condition is usually a bacterial infection.
Antibiotics and
over-the-counter decongestants are widely used to treat chronic sinusitis.
In most cases, antibiotics are not effective for chronic sinusitis because
they target bacteria, not fungi. The over-the-counter drugs may offer some
relief of symptoms, but they have no effect on the inflammation.
"Medications haven't worked
for chronic sinusitis because we didn't know what the cause of the problem
was," says Dr. Ponikau. "Finally we are on the trail of a treatment that
may actually work."
Thousands of kinds of
single-cell fungi (molds and yeasts) are found everywhere in the world.
Fungal spores (the reproductive part of the organism) become airborne like
pollen. Some people develop allergies to fungi. The new evidence from the
Mayo study suggests that many people also develop a different kind of
immune system response.
Source
Mayo Clinic Study Implicates Fungus As Cause Of
Chronic Sinusitis. 1999-09-10. Science Daily. |
