AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY NEWS TIPS FOR DECEMBER
SLEEP-RELATED BREATHING DISORDER CREATES ELEVATED BLOOD PRESSURE
Sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) can cause high blood pressure and more rapid heart rate--problems which are not connected to such usual risk factors as body weight, age, and cholesterol level. Swedish investigators studied 1,087 men and 103 women who were referred to a Sleep Disorders Clinic with symptoms of the disorder. Sleep technicians devised a respiratory disturbance index based on estimated sleep duration as determined by monitors worn over two nights at home. They found that a higher respiratory disturbance index was associated with SRBD. According to the researchers, the problem was directly associated with high blood pressure and strongly correlated with increased daytime resting heart rate. The study appears in the December issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
TESTS SIGNAL ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME DANGERS
Concentrations of several proteins in surfactants from washings of the smaller airways can show when patients with sepsis or trauma are at high risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and of dying after disease onset. Pulmonary surfactants are secreted by the air sacs in the lungs, preventing them from collapsing during the exhalation phase. Seattle investigators examined 22 patients at risk for ARDS and 41 patients with ARDS. They found that higher concentration of one protein, SP-A, were useful in identifying patients who were at low risk for ARDS. In addition, they discovered that ARDS patients who later died had low concentrations of another surfactant protein, SP-D, on their first day with ARDS. They believe that strategies to increase these proteins in the lungs could be a useful way to change the course of the disease. Their research appears in the December issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
MOLDY BUILDINGS CAUSE RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS
Microbes from mold in buildings causes respiratory health problems, according to Finnish biomedical scientists. They detected inflammatory substances in the fluid from the nasal washings of 32 subjects who worked in a moldy school building. After the spring semester of five months, they detected higher levels of the markers, which lowered to those of the normal controls after a 2-1/2 month summer vacation. During the school session, the employees reported cough, phlegm, rhinitis, eye irritation, and fatigue as the levels of the inflammatory markers increased. The researchers said that their results indicated an association between the exposure to the mold, the symptoms, and the pro- inflammatory substances detected. The study appears in the December issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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