The Daily News – April 7, 2025

Today on the Daily News, let’s talk about the unwelcome little tenets in your nose. And these are your nose fungi. Now these little microscopic squatters might just be the reason you can’t stop sneezing or why you’re drowning in tissues. Well, according to BBC science focus, the key to understanding allergies is your nasal microbiome. Now this is the fungal community living rent-free in your nostrils, and it may hold the key to understanding allergic conditions like allergic rhinitis. Now, here’s where we stand. Around 25 to 40% of people worldwide suffer from this condition, which makes your nose run like a faucet, and of course, keeps tissue companies in business. Now, scientists have discovered that people with these sniffle inducing allergies have very different fungal colonies in their noses compared to people who don’t suffer from allergies. Now, to dig deeper, no pun intended, researchers took nasal swabs from over 300 participants, some allergy sufferers and others blissfully sniffle free. And what did they find? Well, allergy sufferers had richer and more diverse fungal communities. Translation. Not all fungi in your nose are friendly and some might be stirring up some trouble. The study also revealed that specific metabolic pathways, which are the chemical processes the fungi engage in, were more active in the nasal fungi of people with allergies. Understanding these processes could one day pave the way for targeted allergy treatments. Imagine a future where we can actually evict the trouble making fungi and finally say goodbye to those endless sneezing fits. Now, what can you do to keep your fungi in check while scientists of course work on the big breakthroughs? While here to share some tips on allergy management, we have naturopathic doctors. Stephanie Rubino, thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Stephanie. Thanks for having me. So there’s a lot of information out there about allergic rhinitis. Uh, do you mind sharing a few thoughts on how to manage this condition? Yes. There are three important tips you can do at home. First, minimize your contact with allergens like dust and pollen, which trigger symptoms like a runny nose, itchy eyes, and sneezing. You can do this by regularly cleaning your house, keeping your windows closed, especially when pollen counts are high, and limiting your outdoor activities if needed. Second, use a nasal rinse, which helps to clear out allergens and mucus. Nasal rinses are an easy and inexpensive way to help relieve symptoms and they may even help to reduce the use of allergy medications for some people. And what sort of things should I be looking for then when I’m out buying a nasal rinse? Although you can buy a nasal rinse kit, you can also use a small nasal rinse bottle or a neti pot and make a solution with simple ingredients like sea salt, baking soda, and distilled water. Okay, great. So that would help obviously keep things more affordable for people then. So what’s your final tip? Finally, use a high quality air purifier, which can improve the air quality around you. By removing allergens and pollutants, they can help to provide relief for allergy sufferers and asthmatics and improve respiratory health. Perfect. Okay. Now what makes, would you say an air purifier, a high quality one, and what should we be looking for in that aspect? A high quality air purifier should include a HEPA filter, which is ideal for allergy sufferers because it helps to filter out fine particles like dust, pollen, and pet dander. Also, make sure that the air purifier is a suitable size for the room that it is in, and if you plan on using it while you’re sleeping, make sure it’s quiet. Remember to always properly maintain the air purifier so it can run efficiently for a long period of time. Beautiful. Thank you so much for those awesome tips, Stephanie. You’re welcome. So the next time you are battling the sniffles, take heart. It might not be you, it’s your fungi. And with ongoing research, we’re one step closer to winning the war on rogue nose microbes. Do you have any tips for dealing with allergies yourself? Well, please drop ’em in the comments and don’t forget to like, subscribe and hit that notification bell for more health insights. We’ll see you next time on The Daily News.