If you suffer from chronic sinusitis — a condition that affects more than 10 percent of the U.S. population — a stuffy nose and postnasal drip may be the least of your worries. Research has uncovered a link between chronic sinusitis and cognitive deficits — or, as most people who have this problem call it, “brain fog.”
What Is Brain Fog?
Brain fog is not a clinical term but a colloquial one, explains Aria Jafari, a surgeon and an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
People describe the experience as the inability to concentrate, making it difficult to take care of everyday tasks — for example, forgetting what was on your grocery list or having difficulty following directions to a place you’ve not been before, explains Jafari.
