East Louisville News

If you’re a smoker and suffer from sinus problems, you're in good company.

Two of the U.S.'s former presidents suffered from the same issue. Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were both smokers who had chronic sinus infections.

According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum,  the former president suffered from acute sinusitis and was treated with courses of antibiotics.

Documents at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum indicate that FDR  was a heavy smoker who received treatment for a sinus condition that “plagued him greatly.” 

Roosevelt’s physician in the White House, Ross McIntire -- who was an ear, nose, and throat specialist -- treated his sinus problems on a regular basis, according to the University of Arizona Health Sciences Library.

According to the National Institutes of Health, cigarette smoke may play a significant role in diseases of the upper airway, including chronic rhinosinusitis, something physicians constantly warn their clients about.

“Unfortunately, a large population of my patients have smokers in the household or they smoke themselves,” Dr. Daniel Mongiardo of the Dr. Daniel Mongiardo Sleep & Sinus Center told East Louisville News. “I try to aggressively coax them into trying to get rid of the cigarettes because all they're doing is paying somebody to cause damage to their health, and it causes a lot of problems.”

A study in the American Journal of Otolaryngology concluded that balloon sinuplasty appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of chronic sinusitis with positive long-term outcomes. Balloon sinuplasty is a minimally invasive in-office procedure that carries a low risk of side effects and a very short recovery period for most patients.

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