Asthma is a lesion that occurs in the bronchial tubes. From an anatomical point of view, the nose is located at the beginning of the upper airway and the bronchi are located in the lower airway, both of which are components of the human airway. Histopathological studies have shown that the nasal mucosa of patients with allergic rhinitis and the bronchial mucosa of patients with asthma are infiltrated with large numbers of helper T cells expressing Th2 cytokines, eosinophils and mast cells and their production of inflammatory mediators such as histamine, leukotrienes and prostaglandins. Grossman’s epidemiological study showed that about 60%-78% of asthma patients have allergic rhinitis, and about 20%-38% of allergic rhinitis patients have asthma, thus clearly suggesting “one airway, one disease”. Clinical treatment studies also show that the treatment of allergic rhinitis can reduce the symptoms of asthma and decrease the incidence of asthma.
Based on the above research data, it is widely accepted in modern medicine that allergic rhinitis and asthma are related in terms of pathogenesis. Therefore, they also have certain commonalities in clinical treatment, such as topical hormone spray or inhalation, anti-leukotriene drugs, etc. in Western medicine. In the treatment of both diseases, TCM practitioners often use wind medicine to dispel wind and relieve spasm, and can achieve better results, which also proves that there is a certain correlation between them from another aspect.