LIV. The Importance of Rhinologic Diagnosis in Allergic Disease

Allergic disease is fundamental in the individual, whether its symptoms are present in the mucous membranes of the nose and sinuses, the skin, the bronchi, or the intestinal tract. That it is not purely a local condition when occurring in the nose and sinuses seems to require emphasis, and the frequent errors of diagnosis which occur because of the failure of rhinologists to recognize the truth in relation to allergy apparently justify repetition of the statement that allergy is a general disease. It manifests itself in many organs of the body, but probably nowhere so frequently as in the nose and sinuses. Here, strangely, where seen most often, it is very commonly not recognized, and its relation to allergic manifestations elsewhere is almost completely ignored.