Nose Leaking Brain Fluid: Arizona Man Believed it was Year-Round Allergies

This is sure to make you think twice about your seasonal allergies. A man who thought that his runny nose was a symptom of year-round allergies was actually leaking brain fluid.

Joe Nagy, a man from Arizona, first noticed the symptom in the morning when he sat up to get out of bed. A clear fluid suddenly dribbled from his nose--similar to tears out of your eyes. The dribbling continued the rest of the day, dripping onto papers as he futilely tried to staunch the supposed symptom.

"It was embarrassing," Nagy admitted to Fox News.

In an attempt to stop the runny nose, Nagy began taking allergy medication. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help. His nose continued to drip year-round. After 18 months, though, he couldn't take it anymore. Nagy went to see a specialist after an especially large drop splashed onto blueprints for model airplanes.

After examining Nagy, though, doctors didn't find allergies. Instead, they found that the membrane surrounding Nagy's brain actually had a hole in it. His brain fluid was literally leaking from his nose throughout the day.

Brains actually produce about 12 ounces of fluid during the course of a day, which explains how Nagy lived with the condition for so long. Known as a spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak, the condition occurs when cerebrospinal fluid held in and around the human brain and spinal cord leaks from a hole in the dura, which is the surrounding, protective sack. While the brain does produce fluid each day, Nagy's condition probably would have worsened over time; it's fortunate that he went to the specialist when he did.

"It's one of the more common conditions to be missed for a long time...because so many people have runny noses," said Peter Nakaji, Barrow Neurological Institute neurosurgeon, in an interview with Geekosystem.

Fortunately, Nagy's leaky brain was able to be fixed with routine surgery. A needle was inserted through his nose and a bit of glue "patched" the hole that the fluid was draining from. There was no cutting involved, according to Fox 10.

Next time you have a runny nose, make sure it's just a cold. Having brain juice leak out of your nose is not a pleasant experience by any means.