East Indy News

Did you know that the 32nd president of the U.S., Franklin D. Roosevelt, a heavy smoker, suffered from a sinus condition?

“FDR was not only known for his cane but also for his cigarette holders,” the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College said. “Like many men of his generation, he was a heavy smoker, estimated to at least a pack a day or more.”

FDR received treatment almost nightly for his sinus conditions, which “plagued him greatly,” according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

President John F. Kennedy was also known to be a smoker who suffered from acute sinusitis and was treated successfully with antibiotics, according to the Janet G. Travell Oral History Interview of 1966.

Cigarette smoke, either through active smoking or being exposed to second-hand smoke, may play a role in diseases of the upper airway, including chronic rhinosinusitis, the National Institutes of Health said.

“Chronic rhinosinusitis is an inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses that occurs in 1 to 5% of the U.S. population,” according to American Family Physician. “Chronic rhinosinusitis is defined by the presence of at least two out of four cardinal symptoms (i.e., facial pain/pressure, hyposmia/anosmia, nasal drainage and nasal obstruction) for at least 12 consecutive weeks, in addition to objective evidence.”

One study, published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology, concluded that “balloon sinuplasty appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of CRS (chronic rhinosinusitis) with great long-term outcomes,” the National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information said.

If you are interested in evaluating your symptoms and are considering seeing a doctor, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.