Latest news with #sinusitis
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Light-powered robot swarms may replace antibiotics for tough sinus infections
Swarms of microrobots have been designed to help get rid of bacterial sinus infections. After completing the task, these tiny robots can be easily expelled from the nose. Interestingly, these tiny, light-activated robots are reportedly as small as a "dust speck." These are called CBMRs (copper single–atom–loaded bismuth oxoiodide photocatalytic microrobots). The China-Hong Kong team has successfully inserted newly developed microrobots into animal sinuses during preclinical trials to treat bacterial infections. 'Our proposed microrobotic therapeutic platform offers the advantages of noninvasiveness, minimal resistance, and drug-free intervention,' the researchers from Guangxi University, Shenzhen University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong stated. Chronic sinusitis treatments have long been problematic, offering a choice between invasive surgery and often ineffective drug delivery. In the past, magnetic microrobots have been created, but it's tough for them to move through inflamed areas in the body that are clogged with thick pus and cellular debris. Driven by the limitations of current treatments, scientists, under the leadership of Haidong Yu, engineered these light-activated microbots to combat deep-seated bacterial infections in the sinuses effectively. Researchers first created tiny magnetic particles (CBMRs) containing antibacterial copper. They then built a special magnetically guided optical fiber to both control the movement of these microrobots and shine visible light on them. Here's how these tiny bots work. Reportedly, microrobot swarms are injected into the sinus cavity through the nostril duct. A magnetic field can precisely steer them, navigating even the most inflamed and viscous sinus environments directly to the infection site. 'They constructed a magnetically guided optical fiber that could coordinate the movements of CBMR swarms and illuminate them with visible light. Under a magnetic field, CBMRs exert collective mechanical forces that disrupt bacterial cell walls,' the team explained. Once in place, this designed optical fiber shines visible light, activating the CBMRs, and causing them to release heat for better movement. When activated by light, these microrobots perform two key functions: they exert collective mechanical forces to break apart robust bacterial biofilms. Moreover, they generate antibacterial reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are free radicals that effectively kill the now-exposed bacteria. The team tested the microbots on animal models. In preclinical trials, these microrobots proved highly effective: they eliminated bacterial biofilms in lab settings and successfully cleared infections in rabbit models of sinusitis. Moreover, CBMRs were shown to effectively clear bacteria from pig sinuses outside of a living body. Remarkably, these positive outcomes occurred without tissue damage or side effects, and the microrobots were even naturally expelled from the nose. The team says this new approach comes with various benefits. As it's non-invasive, the technique eliminates the need for complex surgeries. Moreover, it promotes minimal resistance since it doesn't depend on traditional drugs, thereby reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance. Essentially, it offers a novel, drug-free intervention for fighting infections. 'The authors propose that their approach could be applied to treat other sinus-related diseases,' the press release noted. The findings were published in the journal Science Robotics.
RNZ News
25-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Gisborne pensioner dealt with depression, chronic pain in year-long wait for surgery
It comes amid ongoing doctor shortages at Gisborne Hospital. (File photo) Photo: Liam Clayton / Gisborne Herald A Gisborne pensioner dealt with chronic pain and depression during a year-long wait for surgery for severe sinus inflammation. It came amidst ongoing doctor shortages at Gisborne Hospital. As of April, about 40 percent of senior doctor positions at the hospital were vacant. RNZ understands that Gisborne Hospital currently has just one ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who works part time. The patient, who asked not to be named, said he had to put his life on hold as he lived for over a year with lingering pain - which he described as the feeling of after being hit in the face - as well as mucus and breath that smelt like "strong cheese and chives" due to his infection. The man said he had issues with his sinuses for 20 years, but a dental surgery that punctured his sinuses early last year left him with a severe sinus infection that did not go away. "My cheek, and up the left side of my nose and right up to - there's a small sinus above your eye as well above the left eye - that was all infected and just packed full of pus," he said. He said most nights he was not able to sleep until midnight, and sometimes would sleep in a sitting position to make breathing easier. The man's GP confirmed a first referral letter was sent last May, but it was not until October - after two follow up letters from his GP - that he got to see an ENT specialist. While initially told it would be four months wait for surgery, the man said he was later told that there was no staffing for his surgery to go ahead when he followed up with Health New Zealand (HNZ). The man said he was told in February, there were people who had been waiting for surgery much longer than him - including a patient at the top of the waiting list who had been waiting for about 700 days. He said during his long wait, his reliance on anti-inflammatories and about eight courses of antibiotics were taking a toll on his body. He said he also developed depression. "People have said to me, what was it like? And I said, well if I had a gun, I would have used it on myself, literally. That's how bad it was, the depression that came with it," he said. The man said his operation was eventually outsourced to a private hospital in Hastings in late April, with travel and accommodation costs covered by HNZ. He said while he was delighted to finally get his operation done, the process made him feel "abandoned" by the health system, and he worried about the impact on others who had similar experiences. The man's GP, who also did not want to be named, said he should have been treated in a month, given his condition. She said she had noticed an increasing number of referrals being declined or taking up to a year for the patients to be seen. She estimated about 40 percent of her ENT referrals were either getting rejected or "getting nowhere". The doctor said this further strained already limited resources for GPs, who were left holding the patients' hands for much longer during their waits. "It's really difficult as a GP, because I feel like it sometimes doubles or triples our job, because we have these patients coming back to us desperate to be seen. "Sometimes I'll write more than one referral, maybe three referrals, pleading with the department to expedite this person's appointment," she said. She said the waits were particularly pronounced in ENT and orthopaedics. She said it appeared that all patients other than "priority 1" (top priority patients) were having to wait for over four months or longer for appointments. HNZ has been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Forbes
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
TikToker Claims Fart Near Her Face Caused 7 Years Of Sinus Infections
Should you be worried about more than just a smell when a fart goes up your nose? (Photo: Getty) You may have caught wind of what Christine Connell said about an ex and his bare-butted fart in a TikTok video that's already been viewed over 436,000 times. In the video, Connell claimed that she's had either chronic or recurrent sinusitis for about seven years ever since her significant other at the time let out a particularly foul-smelling fart rather near her face. Now, getting farted upon is probably not something that will elicit a 'I love you too,' response but was she justified in letting loose on him for causing a rather unusual persistent infection in her sinuses, you know those four paired hollow spaces within the bones of your skull and face? Well, here's the backstory, so to speak, that Connell provided across two different TikTok posts. Years ago, she and her then beau were in a hotel room that had two queen-sized beds. She was under the covers in one of the beds, recovering from an ankle operation. Meanwhile her significant other was standing naked between the beds when his bare butt then turned towards her face. And stories that begin with his bare butt then turned towards your face, don't necessarily end that well. 'That is when the fart happened,' Connell exclaimed in a TikTok video. 'I've never, ever, ever smelled anything that compares to that.' And Connell probably didn't mean it in a "Nothing Compares 2 U" way. In another TikTok video, she elaborated, 'When I say that it was the worst fart that I have ever smelled in my life, I truly mean that.' She did clarify that it the whole fart thing didn't seem intentional. It's not as if he had a particular beef with her and enacted a gaseous revenge. Instead, as she explained, 'He was just getting into bed and my face happened to be in the path of the fart that was released.' The story didn't end there. Connell described how she then spent the next seven years dealing with repeated sinus infections Apparently, these sinus infections remained rather recalcitrant to standard treatments until her doctor took a sample from her nose for testing. This sample did not grow out Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Streptococcus pyogenes or any of the usual bacterial suspects when it comes to causing sinusitis. No, instead, it grew out the bacteria known as Escherichia coli or E. coli for short. In one of her TikTok posts, Connell gave the poop on where you might commonly find E. coli saying, 'E. coli is from poop.' Yep, it's often in poop because E. coli is a common inhabitant of your intestines. Your sinuses are usually connected to your nasal passages to help warm and humidify air and produce mucus for you, but they shouldn't be connected to your butt. This led Connell to question, 'How does that [meaning E. coli] get in your sinuses unless you have a boyfriend who farts disgustingly and you are forced to inhale it because you are immobile after ankle surgery?' Connell felt that her surgery left her especially susceptible to getting infected by E. Coli. 'I had just had ankle surgery that I was recovering from, so I imagine that my immune system was focused on healing that,' she added. 'I think that maybe in another circumstance, like if I had been healthy, it wouldn't have happened.' Sinusitis is where one or more of the sinuses in your face pictured here get inflamed. ... More (Illustration: Getty) This clearly seems to be a 'Fart and the Furious' situation. Having sinusitis is certainly not fun. You can find a bunch of sinusitis symptoms and issues on the Mayo Clinic website. One common symptom is your nose producing thick, discolored mucus that can run both directions from your nose, forward resulting in a runny nose and backward resulting in postnasal drip. Your nose can also get blocked, makes it difficult to breathe. Sinusitis, which means inflammation of the sinuses, can result in pain, tenderness or even swelling in or around different parts of your face and head such as your eyes, ears, cheeks, forehead, mouth, teeth, throat and head in general as well. All of this can impair your senses like smell and taste too. Then there's the potential bad breath and fatigue. Sinusitis is considered acute when symptoms last less than four weeks. Viruses are the most common cause of acute sinusitis. Sinusitis creeps into the subacute category when symptoms last a bit longer from four and 12 weeks. Once symptoms persist beyond 12 weeks, the sinusitis falls into the chronic ranks with bacteria being the most common culprit although other pathogens like viruses and fungi can still cause chronic sinusitis as well. Allergies can cause different durations of sinusitis too. The other category of sinusitis is recurrent acute sinusitis when symptoms return at least four times in a given year but in each case last no longer than two weeks. You may be able to manage acute sinusitis symptoms yourself with over-the counter medications like decongestants and drinking plenty of fluids. You should see you doctor if you have such symptoms for longer than 10 days or repeated bouts of sinusitis. That's because you may need prescription strength decongestants, a nasal steroid spray or even antibiotics. The doctor can also check to see if you have some kind anatomical issue like a deviated setpum or nasal polyps predisposing you for sinus infections. In rare cases, the infection causing chronic sinusitis can spread to other parts of your body and wreak havoc. For example, spread to the eye sockets can lead to vision issues and even blindness. Spread to the meninges, the membranes that wrap around your brain like Saran wrap around a knish, can result in their inflammation, which is called meningitis and can be life-threatening. Spread to the bones can cause osteomyelitis and to the skin can result in cellulitis. The Cleveland Clinic website lists various risk factors for sinusitis such as nasal allergies, asthma, nasal polyps, a deviated septum, smoking and a weakened immune system. But it does not include getting farted upon. Some of the bacteria and viruses that can cause sinusitis can travel through the air. So when someone actively infected with one of these pathogens coughs, sneezes or in some cases just breathes near you, you can end up catching the pathogen. If the pathogen then settles in one of your sinuses, presto, bingo you can have sinusitis. Other pathogens require more direct contact to be transmitted. This can be via direct skin-to-skin contact or other body-part-to-body-part contact or contact with contaminated body fluids, objects or other substances. E. coli falls more into this latter category. While Red Bull may give you wings, this isn't usually the case with E. coli. These bacteria don't have the means to fly through the air themselves. So it would be unusual for E. coli to be transmitted without some kind of direct contact with something contaminated with the bacteria. Could a particularly juicy fart, though, spray E. coli and other poop microbes like a confetti cannon? Well, in 2020 when writing in Forbes about whether you should be worried about getting COVID-19 via farts, I did reference a study published in a 2001 issue of BMJ. This study had a subject fart towards a Petri dish first while wearing pants and then do the same without pants. When the subject was wearing pants and cut the cheese, nothing grew in the dish. However when the subject went sans pants and played the bottom trumpet, the fart resulted in clumps of bacteria growing in the Petri dish. This suggested that a fart could indeed propel such microbes into the air. There were a number of ifs, ands and buts to this bare butted study though. For one, it didn't measure how far such microbes could travel. For another, just because you get hit by some microbes doesn't mean that there are enough of those microbes to cause an infection. There's also a lack of documented cases of E. coli infections resulting from fart transmissions. Of course, one caveat is that farts are not exactly the hottest topic of scientific study these days. More research would be needed to know what farts and any accompanying doo doo can do. So it's not completely clear whether the TikToker's fart claims were completely full of hot air. Basically, the jury is still out on whether the toot was the root of the TikToker's sinus infection. Since it didn't happen under experimental conditions, you can't tell whether the ex could have transmitted the E. coli. more directly through other means. For example, maybe the ex didn't wash his hands between touching his butt and her. You can use your imagination as to how else direct contact could have occurred. Also, who knows what other direct exposure the TikToker could have had that didn't involve her ex. She for example could have touched something with E. coli on it and then not washed her hands thoroughly enough before touching her nose. So, all of this doesn't mean that you should have an excessive fear of farts. Naturally, you may not want to say, 'Please fart directly into my face.' And there are multiple other reasons why you might want others around you to wear underwear and pants. But even if someone lets loose somewhat near you while bare bummed, doesn't necessarily mean that you should be worried about catching something besides a whiff.
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
‘Healthy' boy, 8, left with giant forehead and lethal swelling after blocked nose turned into ‘Pott's puffy tumour'
A YOUNG boy with a seemingly innocent headache and blocked nose was rushed to hospital when his forehead began to swell. Experts are now raising awareness of the life-threatening condition he faced. 1 The eight-year-old boy had complained of a headache, fever, and blocked nose prior to his hospital admission. All three symptoms are commonly associated with sinusitis - a sinus infection that usually clears up on its own within four weeks. But two weeks later the boy was rushed to the emergency department when his forehead began to swell. The swelling measured 8 x 5cm and extended to the root of his nose. It also rapidly increased in size down to his eyelids. Initially, his condition was believed to have resulted from direct trauma to the forehead. But following a CT scan, doctors discovered he'd developed a rare complication of sinusitis, known as Pott's puffy tumour. Pott's puffy tumour causes a fluid-filled lump on the forehead and can be fatal if left untreated. Luckily for the boy, he was swiftly treated with antibiotics, and after 48 hours, the swelling began to subside. He was then discharged home after three weeks of hospitalisation. I've only got half a skull left after what started as a simple cold His case was recently published in Cureus. Pott's puffy tumour, named after Sir Percivall Pott, an English surgeon who first described it in 1760, is an uncommon condition in the UK. The authors wrote: "Although this condition can affect people of any age or gender, previous studies revealed that PPT in those above the age of 18 years is more common in the five to 17 age range, and they are more common in adolescents, with a median age of 11 years, favouring male patients, who account for 70 per cent of cases. "In our case, the child was an eight-year-old boy. In the adolescent age, the flow rate of the diploic veins, which drain the frontal sinus, increases and favours the hematogenous spread of infections." If Pott's puffy tumour is left untreated, it may result in bone erosion from the infected material coming into direct contact with intracranial structures, they noted. They concluded: "A seemingly harmless and common infection, such as acute bacterial sinusitis, can occasionally lead to serious complications. "To prevent fatal complications, it is crucial to recognise and treat benign infections such as bacterial sinusitis. "Although surgical intervention is recommended in this condition, early detection can enable a less invasive approach and may even eliminate the need for surgery altogether." What is Pott's puffy tumour? Pott's puffy tumour is a rare complication of sinusitis (sinus infection). It's essentially a swelling of the forehead due to an infection spreading from the sinuses. The condition can be life-threatening if not treated promptly due to the potential for infection to spread to the brain. The primary symptom is swelling, particularly on the forehead, along with fever, headache, and nasal discharge. Other symptoms include light sensitivity, pain when pressing on the affected area, and potentially bulging eyes (proptosis). Pott's puffy tumour is an uncommon condition in the UK, considered rare in the post-antibiotic era. While it can affect individuals of any age, it's most commonly observed in teenagers and young adults, possibly due to the increased vascularity and development of the diploic veins during adolescence. If you suspect a Pott's puffy tumor, seek immediate medical attention.
