President John F. Kennedy was one of many former presidents who was known to be a smoker. | Wikimedia Commons/Cecil Stoughton, 1920-2008, Photographer
President John F. Kennedy was one of many former presidents who was known to be a smoker. | Wikimedia Commons/Cecil Stoughton, 1920-2008, Photographer
Two of the most respected presidents in American history had at least two things in common: smoking and resulting sinus problems.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were both smokers who suffered extensive sinus problems that were treated by doctors.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum indicates that Kennedy, a smoker, suffered from acute sinusitis and was frequently treated with antibiotics. Meanwhile, documents at the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidential library show that FDR was a heavy smoker who received treatment from his personal physician, Ross McIntire, for a sinus condition that “plagued him greatly.”
McIntire was an ear, nose and throat specialist, who was bound to secrecy when treating the many ailments suffered by Roosevelt during his presidency, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
It's well known in the medical community that cigarette smoke may play a significant role in diseases of the upper airway, including chronic rhinosinusitis. Physicians very often warn their clients about the connection.
A study in the American Journal of Otolaryngology concluded that balloon sinuplasty is safe and effective for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, often with positive long-term outcomes. Balloon sinuplasty is a minimally invasive, in-office procedure that carries a low risk of negative side effects. Richmond Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers offers this relatively new procedure, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005.
If you're interested in evaluating your sinus symptoms and are considering seeing a doctor, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.
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