When Sinus Problems Won’t Go Away

The humble sinuses, those hollow cavities hidden in the bones around the nose, usually draw little appreciation. But nothing makes one yearn for clear sinuses like sinusitis, a condition that can make the head feel as if it were filled with cement and can render every breath a struggle. For millions of people, sinusitis can drag on for months or years, unresolved by medical interventions. The focus used to be on antibiotic treatments to purge infections that most experts believed were causing chronic sinusitis. Yet many patients relapsed, leading researchers and clinicians to question their assumptions. . read more.

Cockroach Allergens in Homes Associated With Prevalence of Childhood Asthma in Some Neighborhoods

In New York City, the prevalence of asthma among children entering school varies by neighborhood anywhere from 3% to 19%, and children growing up within walking distance of each other can have 2-3 fold differences in risk for having asthma. In the first comprehensive effort to understand what drives these localized differences, researchers compared the household presence of cockroach, mouse, cat, dust mite and other allergens in neighborhoods with a high prevalence of asthma to that in low-prevalence neighborhoods. They found that cockroach, mouse and cat allergens were significantly higher in homes located in neighborhoods where asthma is more common and that children in these higher-exposure homes were more likely to be sensitized to cockroach antigens. . read more.