Who is likely to develop nasal polyps?
Males are twice as likely to be afflicted with nasal polyps compared to females. Rare before age ten years, polyps are also more common in adults forty years and older. If nasal polyps occur in a child under age ten years, then cystic fibrosis is considered as a possible diagnosis. There are at least two theories to explain why adolescents develop nasal polyps. Some authorities believe that teens with allergies are at risk to develop nasal polyps. This theory is based on the frequent complains of runny nose, sneezing and itching as well as increased incidence of asthma in adolescents with nasal polyps. Others dispute the association between nasal polyps and allergy citing studies that found no evidence there was a link between nasal polyps and allergy in two hundred consecutive patients who had surgery to remove the polyps. The other common theory that purports to explain why some individuals develop nasal polyps is related to infectious causes. Infection causes the tissues lining the
