Only those who have or are suffering from sinusitis can understand the discomfort and its impact on work and daily activities. This makes many people worry about whether sinusitis is inherited, for fear of passing it on to their children. So what is this problem really?
According to statistics in hospitals, up to now, the number of people who have been suffering from sinus infections is at an alarming rate. On average, each day at Ho Chi Minh City Ear – Nose – Throat Hospital receives from 700 to 800 cases of sinusitis examination and treatment. This figure shows that sinusitis is becoming one of the most common diseases today.
Table of Contents
What is sinusitis? Why do so many people get sinusitis?
Sinusitis is a condition in which one or more sinuses become blocked and filled with fluid combined with the growth of viruses and bacteria, leading to inflammation and ultimately sinusitis.
Sinusitis that usually comes on suddenly and lasts for a short period of about 4 weeks is called acute sinusitis . And the case of sinusitis that lasts more than 3 months without getting better or going away and then again is called chronic sinusitis .
Sinusitis is divided into many different forms such as sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, sinus infections caused by fungal infections, sinusitis due to teeth, sinusitis in children …
Experts rate sinusitis as a disease of the industrial age, when the emergence of environmental pollution factors, bacteria, fungi that cause disease exist everywhere and wait for the opportunity to develop. disease.
According to a survey on world climate, Vietnam’s climate is rated as one of the 10 countries with the worst air environment in the world, ranking 123 out of 132 countries. It can be seen that in big cities the risk of disease is higher.
There are also a number of possible causes of sinusitis such as:
- Due to the fact that many people are prone to allergies, people have poor resistance and immune systems, the respiratory tract is weakened, making bacteria and viruses easy to enter the body and cause disease.
- Due to tooth decay or trauma, the lining in the sinuses is damaged.
- Because the mucus gland is overactive and weakened, the system of transporting the mucus is also poor.
Symptoms of sinusitis
Some of the typical symptoms of sinus infections include:
- Decreased olfactory function : The nose of a person with sinusitis will lose sensation, cannot distinguish the smell due to the severe change in sinusitis, swelling can no longer recognize the taste.
- Headache : Depending on the case, the headache location of each person will be different, be it migraine, facial pain, forehead or pain between the eyebrows. The pain usually occurs in the middle of the night until almost morning.
- Mucus discharge: Depending on the location of the sinuses, mucus can drain out the nose or throat of the patient. Mucus is usually opaque white, greenish yellow, light yellow depending on the time of illness, has an unpleasant odor.
- In addition, the patient will also feel tired, loss of appetite, high fever, bad breath …
Sinusitis inherited or not?
In fact, there are many cases in a family where many people have sinus infections at the same time. This inadvertently led many to think that perhaps sinusitis was an inherited disease. However, according to the experts’ explanation, actually sinusitis is not a disease capable of inheriting.
The reason is explained as follows:
- Sinusitis is a disease caused by bacteria, a virus accompanied by environmental pollution and poor resistance that makes the disease worse and worse.
- In case of initial acute sinusitis when not treated promptly and properly, after about 2 months, it recurs and moves to the chronic stage.
- Chronic sinusitis can be caused by an infection, but in some cases it can also be caused by a tumor within the sinuses or a scoliosis of the nasal septum .
- When you have sinusitis, the mucous membranes of your nose, throat, and sinuses become swollen and inadvertently obstruct your sinuses and prevent sebum from escaping.
- When the sinuses are blocked, the environment inside the sinuses gets wet, making the infection worse.
- Women in the early stages of pregnancy, if suffering from sinusitis, can affect the development of the fetus.
From the above explanations it can be seen that sinusitis stems from infection by external factors or the patient’s poor body, not her genetics.
The nature of inheritance is the transfer of genes from parents to children, this gene determines the appearance of hair color, height, blood type … abnormalities of the gene or chromosome but not related to factors outside the environment.
Is sinusitis contagious? What is the disease spread?
According to the structure of the body, the sinuses are the hollow holes in the cheeks, 2 sides of the nose, behind the nose and the forehead. Normally, these sinus cavities hold the head of the air and are surrounded by a thin layer of mucus. However, when bacteria invade and cause inflammation here, it will cause the surrounding tissues to become swollen and result in sinusitis.
Typically, in some cases, chronic sinusitis can be related to nasal polyps or nasal septum defects. Risk factors such as polluted environment, dry air, and contaminated food can all increase the risk of disease.
Therefore, it also increases the risk of infection between people. However, the infection will depend on the cause of the disease. As follows:
- Virus : Virus is the most common cause of sinusitis, first the virus will enter the body and cause a cold, and when the cold turns into a sinus infection. For this reason, the sick person just sneezing, sneezing or talking a close distance will also spread sinusitis.
- Bacteria : When the sinus cavities become blocked and the mucus is filled, the bacteria grow and cause an infection to form sinusitis. However, compared with the cause of a viral sinus infection, the bacteria are less likely to spread from person to person.
- Due to the living environment : The living environment is too polluted, filled with bacteria and fungi, and there are many risk factors such as cigarette smoke, chemicals, street dust … in big cities will easily cause inflammation. sinuses. However, people with sinus infections from these causes will not be able to spread the disease.
However, according to experts of Ear – Nose – Throat, for those who have good resistance and immune system, it is completely self-immune and prevent the penetration of pathogens as well as the possibility of infection. from person to person. Because of this, not everyone is likely to taste sinus infection.
Usually, the disease will be highly contagious in some subjects, including:
- Pregnant women : During pregnancy, a woman’s body is often susceptible to decreased resistance, hormonal decline. This makes pregnant mothers unable to resist the infection and cause disease.
- Infants and young children : The immune systems of infants and young children are extremely weak and in the process of perfecting every day. What’s more, the child’s sinus lining is also very thin and vulnerable. Therefore, when dealing with a person with sinusitis, children can easily be infected if they are not properly protected.
- People with a history of respiratory disease : Those who have had a sore throat, allergic rhinitis or bronchitis have a certain amount of virus in the body. Normally, they will not be able to cause illness due to insufficient numbers, but when exposed to people with potentially infectious sinusitis, the number of viruses in the body increases and causes illness easily.
Therefore, it can be sure that sinusitis is not transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy at all, but it can be transmitted through inhalation. The ways of transmission of sinus infections are:
- Inhalation transmission : There are many types of viruses and bacteria that get in the air, possibly a virus that causes sinusitis because a person with sinusitis sneezes, coughs or sneezes. When normal people who are not sick, inhale the virus accidentally, it increases the risk of infection.
- Contact with infected surfaces : Sinus virus can adhere to and reside in many places such as clothing, personal belongings or the body of an infected person. Therefore, should limit contact, shake hands, talk close distances with people with sinusitis. At the same time, absolutely do not share personal items with sick people.
Current sinusitis treatments
Sinusitis, if not detected and treated in time, can cause many dangerous complications for the health of the patient. Therefore, although the disease is not inherited, you still need to pay great attention to protect yourself from risk factors that spread the disease.
In addition, if you accidentally get sinusitis due to infection from others, you need to pay attention and implement active treatment such as:
Treat sinusitis at home
Perform home remedies using natural herbs to clean the nose, and wash the nose to kill bacteria at the root. When the pathogenic bacteria is gone, the symptoms of the disease will also go away on their own.
To do this, you just need to choose natural herbs with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects such as grapefruit leaves, rinses for steaming or using normal saline to wash your nose every day. This method is simple, easy to do, safe, does not cause side effects and is not too expensive.
However, this method can only be used in cases of mild illness, and the onset of illness shortly.
Use antibiotics
Using antibiotics is a way to quickly improve symptoms. Some commonly used drugs such as amoxicillin, aspirin, ibuprofen, pseudoephedrine, naphazoline, …
However, the use of antibiotics requires the prescription of a doctor about the drug, dosage to be used and duration of use depending on the case of the disease. Absolutely not arbitrarily using drugs or voluntarily stopping drugs, drug abuse can also cause greasiness and relapse of the disease.
Sinus surgery
For people with severe, chronic sinus infections with severe symptoms and ineffective drug use, sinus surgery may be indicated.
This method uses modern advanced equipment, fast and effective surgery time, fast recovery time after surgery. However, because the cost of surgery is quite expensive, very few patients choose.
Sinus treatment by methods of Oriental medicine
Besides Western medicine, Oriental medicine is also one of the effective sinus treatments that many people believe to apply. The advantage of this method is that it uses natural, benign and safe medicinal herbs that do not cause side effects for the patient’s health. In particular, the application of oriental medicine will help directly impact the source of the disease and cure the root cause, prevent recurrence.
However, the disadvantage of this method is that the treatment effect usually comes quite slowly, it takes a long time for the active ingredients of the drug to absorb and work. Moreover, not all cases can apply Oriental medicine remedies, only those with the right location and mild disease have positive results.
Some notes help support effective sinusitis treatment
Currently, there are many ways to treat sinusitis, but no matter which method you choose, you need to take the following precautions to achieve the best therapeutic effect:
- Absolutely do not share personal items or have direct contact with people with potentially infectious sinus infections.
- Clean the ears – nose – throat, especially wash the nose every day with normal saline to remove bacteria, viruses, dirt that exist inside the sinus cavities.
- Keep the living space clean, cool, and avoid pets like dogs and cats if you are prone to nose allergies.
- Build a scientific diet, full of nutrients and healthy living, sleep early, avoid staying up late, avoid stress as well as exercise daily to enhance the body’s resistance.
In short, sinusitis is one of the respiratory diseases that causes many uncomfortable symptoms for the patient, even dangerous when serious complications appear. However, its nature is not genetic so you don’t need to worry too much about this problem. Focus on implementing aggressive treatments and effectively preventing disease.
