Nasal Sinusitis and Asthma: A Thesis. Presented by Dr. Francis M. Rackemann*, and Dr. Francis L. Weille†, Boston.
In a recent paper on "Intrinsic Asthma," one of us (Rackemann, F. M.: Intrinsic Asthma, J. Allergy, to be published) presented the reasons for thinking that asthma might have a cause different from allergy. Certainly there are cases in which it is quite impossible to show a cause which is allergic in the ordinary sense. Whereas allergy is often an adequate explanation of asthma, there is reason to think that it is only one of several causes which can precipitate the asthmatic syndrome.The relation of the nose and throat to asthma is important for two principal reasons: 1. Lesions of the sinuses and polypi in the nose are so common as almost to be expected in cases in which asthma has become severe. 2. In the presence of a lesion, it