Squirting nasal mucus from a healthy stranger into your nose may help relieve congestion.
New research shows that just a few days of treatment with donated mucus can clear blocked ducts for up to three months. It is thought to improve the composition of the nasal microbiome, the community of microbes, including bacteria, that live in the fluid lining the nasal passages and sinuses (air-filled cavities behind the nose, cheeks and eyes).
Previous studies have found that the greater the number and diversity of insects in the nasal microbiome, the less likely someone is to suffer from chronic congestion or hay fever.
Now scientists have discovered that transplanting insect-rich mucus from healthy donors into the nasal passages of people with permanent congestion clears their airways by reducing inflammation that makes it difficult for them to breathe through their noses.
Chronic sinusitis, or permanently blocked nose, develops when the nasal passages and lining of the sinuses become inflamed and blocked, often as a result of a viral infection, such as a cold or flu.
Chronic sinusitis, or permanently stuffy nose, develops when the nasal passages and lining of the sinuses become inflamed and blocked.
This causes difficulty breathing through the nose and pain or tenderness around the eyes and nose.
Most cases go away after a couple of weeks, but some people develop chronic sinusitis that lasts for months or even years.
Far from being a minor ailment, studies suggest that pain and discomfort can be as serious as conditions such as arthritis. Symptoms range from constant runny nose or congestion to a reduced sense of smell.
Inflammation can also lead to the formation of polyps: small growths in the sinuses that block airflow and may require surgery under general anesthesia to remove; In England alone, 10,000 people a year undergo this surgery.
Recent research has suggested that the type of bacteria in the nose could be a key factor in chronic sinusitis.
Previous studies found that chronic sinusitis sufferers have fewer than 1,000 varieties of bacteria in their nasal cavities, compared to more than 1,200 in those without the condition.
The idea of using a stranger’s mucus to solve the problem is based on equally unappealing sounding fecal transplants, which are currently being used in the NHS to combat an intestinal infection called C. difficile, which kills thousands of people in the UK United every year.
Patients either have a small sample of stool from a healthy donor implanted into their intestines (by a doctor using a probe called a colonoscope) or swallow a capsule containing freeze-dried stool fragments.
For the new approach, researchers at Lund University in Sweden recruited 22 adults with stuffy noses. First, they put each volunteer through a two-week course of oral antibiotics to eliminate their existing “defective” nasal microbiome so they could “rebuild” it using healthy donated mucus.
Then, the donor mucus, taken primarily from partners or friends with no history of sinusitis, was mixed with a few teaspoons of salt water and sprayed into each nostril with a syringe. The syringe was kept in place for a few minutes to prevent the solution from coming back out, enough time for some of the healthy donor’s bacteria to settle in the sinuses. This process was repeated daily for five days.
The researchers then analyzed the volunteers’ responses using a symptom checklist called the Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test (or SNOT-22), which measures everything from congestion and sneezing to runny nose, cough, and facial pain.
Tests were also performed to measure the levels of inflammatory chemicals (called cytokines) in nasal discharge.
The results, published in the International Allergy and Rhinology Forum, showed that the severity of symptoms decreased by almost 40 percent over the following three months and there was a significant increase in the number and variety of bacteria in nasal mucus.
The researchers now hope to confirm the findings in a larger study.
Adam Frosh, a specialist ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said mucus transplants are a potential new therapy for millions of people with chronic sinusitis, but more research is needed.
“The theory is really good, but it’s a small study that doesn’t really prove anything,” he said.
Simon Gane, consultant rhinologist and ENT surgeon at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, added: “The nasal area definitely has its own microbiome and this is a very interesting area of research – I would certainly prefer a mucus transplant.” to a poop transplant.’
A study shows that fecal transplants could be used to remove fat from the abdomen.
Researchers at Wuhan Fourth Hospital in China gave obese mice small amounts of feces from lean mice.
The journal Microbiological Research reports that this improved the composition of the recipient’s gut microbes (i.e., microbiome) and reduced fat deposits around the waist.
A healthier gut microbiome is thought to help the body burn fat instead of storing it.
DO THIS…
Write things by hand, it’s good for your brain.
In a recent study, researchers in Norway compared the brain activity of 36 students while they wrote with a pen and typed on a keyboard.
They found that brain activity patterns during writing were more elaborate (the type associated with better learning and memory) compared to writing, reports the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
The movement and control needed when writing is thought to help develop more and stronger brain pathways, and children and adults should be encouraged to do it more.