President John F. Kennedy was one of many former presidents who was known to be a smoker. | Wikimedia Commons/Cecil Stoughton, 1920-2008, Photographer
President John F. Kennedy was one of many former presidents who was known to be a smoker. | Wikimedia Commons/Cecil Stoughton, 1920-2008, Photographer
On the heels of Presidents Day, two celebrated presidents, John F. Kennedy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, have been noted as being heavy smokers who suffered from recurrent sinus problems.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum reports that the 35th president had acute sinusitis, which often required antibiotic treatments.
The University of Arizona's Health Sciences Library notes that Roosevelt's White House physician, Dr. Ross McIntire -- an ear, nose and throat specialist -- was greatly concerned about the president's sinus problems.
Roosevelt was generally treated nightly for his sinus problems, which were said to have “plagued him greatly,” the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum reported.
The New York Times indicated that Roosevelt smoked heavily.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information says that smoking cigarettes could play a chief role “in diseases of the upper airway including chronic rhinosinusitis.” Cigarette smoking can lead to inflammation if you're a sinus sufferer.
The American Journal of Otolaryngology says that balloon sinuplasty is a safe and effective procedure for chronic rhinosinusitis, and the procedure can have long-term benefits. It is minimally invasive, carries a low risk and requires very little recovery time. Kennedy and Roosevelt may have benefited from the procedure had it been available in their time.
Assess your sinus symptoms by taking this free online Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.
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