SC Connecticut News

• Research has found that inflammation, which comes with chronic sinusitis, can alter brain activity.
• This can cause symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and depression.
• In older patients, chronic sinusitis has been linked to dementia.

Chronic sinusitis affects people all around the world, and it comes with a number of symptoms that can affect the patient both physically and mentally. Dr. Robert Weiss of CT ENT Sinus Center said that many of his chronic sinusitis patients have described that they have an inability to focus or concentrate.

“I can't tell you how many times a patient will come in who has chronic sinusitis, and they'll say, 'It feels like I've got cement in my head,' or 'I feel foggy,’” Weiss told SC Connecticut News. “It's a vague symptom, and you can't place it, but I think that's just a way that people are experiencing this chronic inflammation. When you relieve them of that, that's one of the first things they notice. All of that can affect your ability to concentrate, work and read. So I think I think that's part of the reason.”

The University of Washington School of Medicine conducted a study that found chronic sinusitis affects about 11% of American adults and causes inflammation that is linked to changes in brain activity. The changes can cause patients to experience depression and have difficulty concentrating.

The study was coauthored by Dr. Kristina Simonyan, who said examining brain scans of patients revealed that “subject feelings of attention decline, difficulties (in focusing) or sleep disturbances that a person with sinus inflammation experiences might be associated with subtle changes in how brain regions controlling these functions communicate with one another. It is also possible that we might have detected the early markers of a cognitive decline where sinus inflammation acts as a predisposing trigger or predictive factor.”

In addition to physical symptoms -- such as congestion, facial pain and headaches -- some studies have found a link between chronic sinusitis and neurodegeneration in older patients, according to the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Researchers have found that the cognitive impairment caused by chronic sinusitis could also perpetuate the onset of Alzheimer's disease, which is the leading cause of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease can lead to progressive memory loss and personality changes.

According to the Eisemann Plastic Surgery Center, one surgical treatment option is balloon sinuplasty. This is a procedure that takes only 10 to 15 minutes, and patients typically recover within one to two days. Most patients are able to resume their normal activities during that time, although they also may experience swelling for up to a week.

To learn more about the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.