To those who suffer from allergies and sinus problems, it certainly comes as no surprise that the two are related. Indeed, recent tests conducted by scientists at the Allergy Research Foundation in the Netherlands have revealed that nasal allergies may be involved in some cases of chronic sinus disease, Medical News Today reports.

The tests involved exposing patients with chronic sinus disease to allergens and then obtaining repeated images by x-ray or ultrasound. For purposes of comparison, patients with allergies but no history of sinus disease were also studied. Almost all of the patients with sinus disease developed positive nasal responses to the tests, confirming the association between nasal allergy and chronic sinusitis.

Zdenek Pelikan, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher of the study, writes in an article published in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, ‘The possible involvement of allergy, and especially of nasal allergy, in some forms of sinus disease has already been reported in the literature