Although up to 95% of asthma patients suffer from blocked nose, the majority of these patients do not undergo systematic assessment and treatment for nasal blockage. This is unfortunate, as optimal diagnosis and treatment of nasal blockage in asthmatics can reduce asthma morbidity and use of anti-asthmatic medication.
The "Unified Airways" concept considers the upper and lower airways as one unified airway. In recent years there has been increasing awareness about the relationship between inflammation in the upper and lower airways, with disease in the upper airways affecting the lungs through neurological, immunological and mechanical mechanisms, resulting in asthmatic symptoms.
Conditioning and filtration of the inspired air are important functions of the nose, and oral breathing results in inhalation of poorly conditioned and filtered air in to an already inflamed lower airway. Together will these mechanisms lead to a worsening of the asthmatic disease.
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of intranasal corticosteroid therapy, which is known to reduce mucosal inflammation and nasal blockage, on asthmatic symptoms. The primary outcome variable is improvement in asthma symptomatology. The secondary outcome variables are improvement in nasal blockage.
