Clinical studies suggest that chronic or serious sinusitis might be associated with vitamin D deficiency, a medical team at Taichung’s Cheng Ching Hospital said.
Sinusitis is an inflammation or swelling of the tissue lining the sinuses, and is also known as a sinus infection or rhinosinusitis.
The team said that it analyzed blood samples of 41 patients with chronic sinusitis who had undergone surgery and were receiving further treatment, but were making slow progress, and found that they had relatively low concentrations of vitamin D.
The study was conducted between June last year and June, department of otorhinolaryngology director Chen Chung-hsiung (陳忠雄) said.
The average vitamin D concentration in the blood samples of 26 patients with nasal polyp was 20 nanograms per mililiter (ng/mL), with the lowest being 7.4ng/ml, while the average vitamin D concentration in the samples of 15 patients without nasal polyp was 21ng/mL, with the lowest being 12.8ng/mL, he said.
People without chronic sinusitis have average vitamin D concentrations of 30ng/mL in their blood, he added.
Most people know that vitamin D helps increase the absorption of calcium and is essential to proper bone health, but the team discovered that low vitamin D levels could result in worsened sinusitis or poor recovery after treatment, Chen said.
However, while people with sinusitis are advised to consume adequate amounts of vitamin D, they should first see a doctor and have their blood tested, and take supplements according to a doctor’s prescription to prevent vitamin D intoxication, he said.
Vitamin D intoxication can lead to buildup of excessive amounts calcium in the blood, heart and kidneys, and can cause the formation of calcium stones or calcification of blood vessels and organ tissues, he added.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS