Ragweed Pollen Shows Negative Effect of Quality of Life for Some

View Transcript

Ragweed pollen levels correlated with worse chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms. Read the full article here.

Transcript:

Host: 

Welcome to Health Lab, your destination for news and stories about the future of healthcare. 

Today: Pollen exposure linked to worse quality of life for chronic sinus infection sufferers.

Ragweed pollen levels correlated with worse chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms.

The results of a pilot study suggest long term exposure to higher pollen levels leads to worse symptoms and quality of life for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

For the 103 patients studied, levels of ragweed pollen exposure over a five-year interval were correlated with worse Sino-Nasal Outcome Test scores. 

Although allergy is often discussed in the context of chronic rhinosinusitis, it is unclear how it might impact disease outcomes.

Prior studies have attempted to clarify the complex relationship between CRS and allergic rhinitis. However, after reviewing the relevant literature to date, the authors determined that the association of systematic allergy and CRS remained inconclusive.

“The goal of the present pilot study was to address that knowledge gap,” said Amarbir Singh Gill, M.D., Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Medical School and senior author on the paper.

“Although preliminary, our data indicate that certain pollen types, including ragweed, may negatively affect sinonasal quality of life.”

Chronic rhinosinusitis is an inflammation of the nose and sinuses that lasts more than 12 weeks.

Resulting symptoms can include congestion, facial pain and a reduced sense of smell.

Previous research has shown the impact of environmental factors such as air pollution on chronic rhinosinusitis.

No previous studies, however, have examined the relationship between patient-reported outcomes and pollen exposure.

This study enrolled patients at four centers and analyzed data from the National Allergy Bureau from counties in those four states (Oregon, South Carolina, Colorado, and Utah).

Higher five-year exposure to both ragweed and other weed pollen correlated with worse SNOT-22 scores. 

These results conform with a prior study, which found that tree and weed pollen led to more prescriptions filled for allergic rhinitis, an inflammatory condition of the nasal cavity that presents with sneezing, runny nose, and nasal blockage. However, allergic rhinitis doesn’t typically exhibit other sinonasal symptoms common in CRS, such as facial pressure/pain, discolored drainage.

Although many patients with CRS also have allergic rhinitis, not all patients with CRS have allergies.

Researchers believe larger studies are needed to further investigate this potential link between pollen exposure and quality of life in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

“It is important to remember that our study has limitations, including its retrospective nature, self-reported allergy status, and limited number of counties with a pollen measurement station,” Gill said.

“It was also not possible to confirm that participants resided continuously in their zip code for the five-year period used to determine their exposure level. Future studies ideally would incorporate larger numbers, objective allergy testing, be prospective in nature and utilize wearable devices that detect absolute exposure for participants.”

A reminder that all Health Lab content including health news, best practices and research insights are for informational purposes only, and are not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Always seek the advice of a health care provider for questions about your health and treatment options.

For more on this story and for others like it, visit michiganmedicine.org/health-lab where you can also subscribe to our Health Lab newsletters to receive the latest in health, wellness and medical research information to your inbox each week. Health Lab is a part of the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network, and is produced by the Michigan Medicine Department of Communication. You can subscribe to Health Lab wherever you listen to podcasts.