Spraying nasal mucus from a healthy stranger into your nose can help relieve stuffiness.
New research shows that just a few days of treatment with donated mucus can clear blocked passageways 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 that lines the nostrils and sinuses (air-filled cavities behind the nose, cheeks and eyes).
Previous studies have shown that the greater the number and diversity of insects in the nasal microbiome, the less likely a person is to suffer from chronic congestion or hay fever.
Now scientists have found that transplanting insect-rich mucus from healthy donors into the nostrils of people with permanent blockage clears their airways by reducing the inflammation that makes it difficult for them to breathe through the nose.
Chronic sinusitis, or a permanently stuffy nose, occurs when the nasal passages and the lining of the sinuses become inflamed and blocked, often due to a viral infection, such as a cold or flu.
Chronic sinusitis, or a permanently stuffy nose, occurs when the nasal passages and the lining of the sinuses become inflamed and blocked
This leads to difficulty breathing through the nose and pain or tenderness around the eyes and nose.
Most cases clear up after a few weeks, but some people develop chronic sinusitis, which lasts for months or even years.
Studies suggest that far from being a minor condition, the pain and discomfort can be just as serious as conditions such as arthritis. Symptoms range from a constant runny nose or stuffiness to a decreased sense of smell.
The 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 undergo this operation every year.
Recent research has suggested that the type of bacteria in the nose could be a key factor in chronic sinusitis.
Previous studies have shown that patients with chronic sinusitis have fewer than 1,000 types of bacteria in their nasal passages – compared to more than 1,200 in people without the condition.
The idea of using a stranger’s mucus to solve the problem is derived from similarly unappealing-sounding fecal transplants, which are currently used by the NHS to combat an intestinal infection called C. difficile, which kills thousands of people every year kills in Britain.
Patients either have a small sample of healthy donor feces implanted in their intestines – by a doctor using a probe called a colonoscope – or they swallow a capsule containing freeze-dried fragments of the feces.
For the new approach, researchers from Lund University in Sweden recruited 22 adults with stuffy noses. They first gave each volunteer a two-week course of oral antibiotics to eradicate their existing ‘faulty’ nasal microbiome so it could be ‘rebuilt’ with donated healthy mucus.
The donor mucus – usually from partners or friends with no history of sinusitis – was then mixed with a few teaspoons of salt water and injected into each nostril with a syringe. The syringe was held in place for a few minutes to prevent the solution from leaking back out – enough time for some of the healthy donor’s bacteria to take up residence in the sinuses. This process was repeated daily for five days.
Researchers then analyzed volunteers’ responses using a symptom checklist called the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (or SNOT-22) – which measures everything from congestion and sneezing to runny nose, coughing and facial pain.
Tests were also done to measure the levels of inflammatory chemicals (called cytokines) in the nasal secretions.
The results, published in the International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology, showed that the severity of symptoms decreased by almost 40 percent over the following three months and that there was a significant increase in the number and variety of bacteria in the nasal mucus.
Researchers now hope to confirm the findings in a larger study.
Adam Frosh, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said mucus transplants are a potential new therapy for millions of people affected by chronic sinusitis, but more research is needed.
“The theory is really good, but this is 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 in London, added: ‘The nasal area definitely has its own microbiome and this is a very interesting area of research – I would certainly prefer a snot transplant to a poo transplant.’
Fecal transplants can be used to lose belly fat, research shows.
Researchers at the Wuhan Fourth Hospital in China gave obese mice small amounts of fecal matter from lean mice.
The journal Microbiological Research reports that this both 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 rather than store it.
DO THIS…
Write things down by hand, it’s good for your brain.
In a recent study, researchers in Norway compared the brain activity of 36 students as they wrote with a pen and typed on a keyboard.
They found that brain activity patterns were more extensive when writing — the type associated with better learning and memory — compared to typing, reports the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
The movement and control required when writing is thought to help build more and stronger brain pathways – and both children and adults should be encouraged to do more of this.