Feature Channels: Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

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Researchers from Columbia Engineering and Columbia University Medical Center have—for the first time—maintained a fully functional lung outside the body for several days. They designed the cross-circulation platform that maintained the viability and function of the donor lung and the stability of the recipient over 36-56 hours, used the advanced support system to fully recover the functionality of lungs injured by ischemia and made them suitable for transplant. (Nature Biomedical Engineering 3/6)

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The results of a new study reveal that a professional pest management intervention was no better in decreasing asthma symptoms in children allergic to mice than teaching families how to reduce the level of allergens shed by mice in the home on their own.

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A new paper from Michigan Medicine researchers examined the scarring process in transplanted lungs in hopes of identifying novel therapies to stop scarring before it starts.

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Led by associate professor of pathology and Yale Cancer Center member Don Nguyen, PhD, the researchers analyzed RNA from patients with disease that was limited to the lungs as well as cancers that had spread.

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A Mayo Clinic study has shown evidence linking the biology of aging with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that impairs lung function and causes shortness of breath, fatigue, declining quality of life, and, ultimately, death. Researchers believe that these findings, which appear today in Nature Communications, are the next step toward a possible therapy for individuals suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

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Lingering disparities in childhood asthma should be addressed with additional research and quality improvement efforts that work in concert to improve children’s health, according to a new paper published today by researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine in the medical journal Pediatrics.

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Human lungs contain many bacteria, which make up a unique microbiome. New research pinpoints just how they get there, and opens the door to more research on what happens to them – and our bodies – as a result.

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A team has found a way to identify the small population of circulating helper T cells present in the blood after an annual flu vaccine to monitor their contribution to antibody strength. A technique that identifies these helper immune cells could inform future vaccine design, especially for vulnerable populations.

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University of British Columbia microbiologists have found a yeast in the gut of new babies in Ecuador that appears to be a strong predictor that they will develop asthma in childhood. The new research furthers our understanding of the role microscopic organisms play in our overall health.

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They’re called TIPs and their task would be to infiltrate and outcompete influenza, HIV, Ebola and other viruses. Soon, Rutgers’ Laura Fabris will play a key role in a project aimed at designing TIPs – therapeutic interfering particles to defuse the flu. For the first time in virology, Fabris and her team will use imaging tools with gold nanoparticles to monitor mutations in the influenza virus, with unprecedented sensitivity, when it enters cells. Fabris will soon receive a $820,000 grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It’s part of a four-year, $5.2 million INTERfering and Co-Evolving Prevention and Therapy (INTERCEPT) program.

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The first successful randomized trial of its kind provides preliminary evidence that telephone-based smoking cessation counseling given to smokers shortly after undergoing lung cancer screening can be effective at helping people stop smoking.

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Lung cancer specialist Benjamin Levy, M.D., has been named the new clinical director of medical oncology and medical director of thoracic oncology for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital in northwest Washington, D.C.

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The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Oakland County Health Division have issued a health advisory.

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In the largest epidemiological study conducted in the developing world, researchers found that as exposures to fine particulate air pollution in 272 Chinese cities increase, so do deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

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The Thoracic Surgery Foundation (TSF) has announced 16 new grants in support of research and education programs in cardiothoracic surgery.

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Doctors have long understood that antibiotics that protect infants from infection also can disrupt the normal growth of their gut bacteria. However, a new study reveals that the consequences of routine antibiotic use may be deeper and longer lasting than expected. The study, published Feb. 8 in Science Translational Medicine, shows that short-term disruption of gut bacteria makes infant mice more likely to develop pneumonia. It also makes them more likely to die from it.

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Immunotherapy has been a game changer for the oncology field, but typical models used to assess the value of cancer treatments don’t take into account the unique characteristics of this therapy, according to experts at the 2016 annual meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).

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In a proof-of-concept experiment, researchers were able to specifically force M. tuberculosis-infected macrophages into programmed cell death called apoptosis, thereby releasing the sheltered M. tuberculosis bacteria from the macrophage and expose them to a lethal dose of rifampicin antibiotic.

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Taking one oxycodone tablet together with even a modest amount of alcohol increases the risk of a potentially life-threatening side effect known as respiratory depression, which causes breathing to become extremely shallow or stop altogether, reports a study published in the Online First edition of Anesthesiology.

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Southampton have developed a new 3D system to study human infection in the laboratory.

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Yale researchers found in a study that one in four high schoolers who use electronic cigarettes are inhaling vapors produced by dripping e-liquids directly onto heating coils, instead of inhaling from the e-cigarette mouthpiece, possibly increasing exposure to toxins and nicotine.

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Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine believe they have isolated a protein that, when missing or depleted, can cause airway constriction, production of mucus, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing for the 334 million people worldwide who suffer from asthma.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes about 60,000 hospitalizations of children aged 0 to four, and nearly 200,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths among adults 65 and older. However, there are virtually no vaccines or treatments for these infections. In a study published online ahead of print in PLoS Pathogens, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine found evidence that the cytokine, Interleukin 27 (IL-27), may be the key to fighting and treating these infections.

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Texas Biomedical Research Institute announced that its Board of Trustees has named Dr. Larry Schlesinger as the Institute’s new President and CEO. Dr. Schlesinger will take the helm of Texas Biomed effective May 31, 2017.

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Preterm babies given the monoclonal antibody palivizumab to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) also appear less likely to develop recurrent wheeze, at least until the age of six, according to new research published online, ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Medicine.

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The Child Health Institute of New Jersey has been awarded a $5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which will expand and enhance its core mission to improve children’s health through the scientific study of pediatric illnesses, including asthma, type 1 diabetes and autism.

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Respiratory conditions could be better targeted and treated, thanks to the discovery of the vital molecule which regulates breathing – according to research by the University of Warwick.

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The Global Initiative for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) has published its 2017 report online, ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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News release about the first person enrolled in the first stem cell trial for cystic fibrosis.

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What if doctors could look into a crystal ball and predict which of their patients might be at risk of getting sick enough to go to the emergency room? For at least one group of patients, that’s exactly what researchers at Penn Medicine are trying to do.

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A pledge from the GSG III Foundation, Inc., will allow for the creation of the Gibbs Lung Research Program. The program will focus on developing better models for studying lung inflammation and allow for new research into causes and potential therapies for lung diseases that affect millions of Americans.

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Pulmospheres, three dimensional multicellular spheroids composed of lung cells from individual patients, were shown to be effective in predicting the efficacy of medications for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, according to findings from UAB presented today in JCI Insight.

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If you want to plan the perfect Valentine’s Day for your sweetheart, keep their allergies and asthma in mind.

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In a bold and very challenging move, thoracic surgeons at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network removed severely infected lungs from a dying mom, keeping her alive without lungs for six days, so that she could recover enough to receive a life-saving lung transplant.

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Researchers have devised a potential drug regimen for tuberculosis that could cut the treatment time by up to 75 percent, while simultaneously reducing the risk that patients could develop drug-resistant TB.

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Implementing lung cancer screening as a high-quality preventive health service in a community setting is feasible, but comes with several key challenges, according to a scientific presentation at the 53rd Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

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Unbalanced signaling by two molecules that regulate breathing leads to sleep apnea in mice and rats. Injection of a substance that reduces production of one of those signals can prevent apneas. This approach may help people suffering from multiple forms of sleep-disordered breathing.

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Children with asthma may be more likely to become obese later in childhood or in adolescence, according to new research published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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EGFR mutations is associated with a longer median overall survival (almost double) compared with those without EGFR mutations when treated with specific targeted agents.

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Researchers at Mayo Clinic have identified a genetic promoter of cancer that drives a major form of lung cancer. In a new paper published this week in Cancer Cell, Mayo Clinic researchers provide genetic evidence that Ect2 drives lung adenocarcinoma tumor formation.

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The Council advises on matters relating to the cause, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung and blood diseases; the use of blood and blood products and the management of blood resources; and on sleep disorders.

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In a clinical trial in Nigeria that replaced biomass and kerosene cookstoves with clean-burning ethanol stoves, researchers were able to reduce by two-thirds the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in pregnant women.

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New research from scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah uncovered distinct types of tumors within small cell lung cancer that look and act differently from one another. Scientists also identified a targeted drug combination that worked well with one specific tumor type. The study was published today in Cancer Cell. The findings suggest small cell lung cancer should not be treated as a uniform disease.

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Researchers who developed a safe and effective procedure to remove thick clogs in children’s airways are now reporting similar success in adult patients. In this rare condition, called plastic bronchitis, patients develop thick, caulk-like casts that form in the branching paths of their airways.

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African Americans may be less responsive to asthma treatment and more likely to die from the condition, in part, because they have a unique type of airway inflammation, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. The study is one of the largest and most diverse trials conducted in the U.S. on race and asthma, with 26 percent of the patients self-identifying as African American. Researchers found that black patients were more likely to exhibit eosinophilic airway inflammation than whites, despite taking comparable doses of asthma medication, such as inhaled corticosteroids.

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A new Yale study suggests that patients with a common form of lung cancer may still benefit from delayed chemotherapy started up to four months after surgery, according to the researchers.

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Results of an initial study of tumors from patients with lung cancer or head and neck cancer suggest that the widespread acquired resistance to immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors may be due to the elimination of certain genetic mutations needed to enable the immune system to recognize and attack malignant cells.