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Woman sits in the doctor’s office and blows her nose while the doctor comes in to greet her
Doctor: Hello Rita, good to see you – but I’m sorry to hear that your polyps are bothering you again.
Rita and the doctor are talking
Rita: I’m sorry too. I really thought the surgery to remove the pain would help, but now I have symptoms again. Could the polyps come back?
Doctor: Unfortunately, yes. Up to 8 in 10 people who have surgery to remove nasal polyps get them again.
Rita looks upset
Rita: Really?! Why?
Doctor talks
Doctor: It has to do with something called type 2 inflammation.
Rita: What is that? Doctor: A healthy immune system sends out type 2 immune cells to fight infections and allergens when there is inflammation, which promotes healing.
But sometimes a person’s immune system sends out these cells when there is nothing to fight and attacks healthy cells instead.
The doctor talks and Rita listens
Rita: So it’s like your immune system is overreacting?
The doctor speaks while Rita has a thought bubble of her mowing the lawn (shows a grasshopper in the corner – not particularly obvious)
Doctor: Exactly.
Rita: Ok, so I understand why that causes the polyps, but then why do they come back?
Doctor: Good question! Treating nasal polyps is similar to mowing the lawn. You can cut the grass, but it can continue to grow back because it is fertilized.
When it comes to nasal polyps, type 2 inflammation is the fertilizer that causes them to recur – even after surgery.
Rita looks interested
Rita: That makes sense, but where does that leave me? Is there anything I can do to treat the polyps and prevent them from coming back?
The doctor talks and Rita listens
Doctor: There is no guarantee. But there are things you can do to relieve your symptoms and reduce the risk of a recurrence.
Rita: What are they? At this point I will do anything.
Doctor: Well, rinsing with saline helps flush out irritants and clear your nose. And steroids in pill, spray, or injection form can temporarily relieve swelling and shrink polyps.
Doctor talks
Doctor: But unfortunately these things don’t prevent polyps from coming back because they don’t address the cause.
Doctor and Rita talk at the same time
Doctor touches his nose. Rita laughs.
The doctor shows Rita something on her computer screen (the text says “Biologics and Nasal Polyps” or something similar)
Rita and Doctor: Inflammation!
Doctor: To keep this chronic inflammation at bay, you may need a medicine called a biologic that works throughout the body and not just in the nose.
Biologics work against various types of inflammation, including type 2.
Rita looks hopeful while the doctor smiles
Rita: So maybe that’s stopping them from coming back?
Doctor: And the student becomes the teacher, grasshopper!
Rita mows the lawn and the grasshopper smiles.
This resource was created with support from Sanofi and Regeneron.