Extended use of a common antibiotic may prolong the time between hospitalizations for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a post-hoc analysis of a multicenter study which compared the hospitalization rates of patients treated with a 12-month course of azithromycin to the rates of those treated with placebo.
Clinical measurement of physical activity appears to be an independent predictor of whether or not patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will end up being hospitalized, according to a new study conducted by researchers in Connecticut. The study also corroborates an earlier investigation that linked higher levels of inactivity with an increased incidence of hospitalizations among patients with COPD.
Treatment with an Alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor (A1-PI), a naturally occurring protein that protects lung tissue from breakdown and protects the lung’s elasticity, is effective in slowing the progression of emphysema in patients with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), a life-threatening genetic disorder, according to a new study presented at the 2013 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA ─ A small, easily implantable device called the Lung Volume Reduction Coil (LVRC) may play a key role in the treatment of two types of emphysema, according to a study conducted in Europe.
Air pollutants from traffic are associated with increased asthma severity levels in pregnant asthmatic women, according to a new study.
People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, as well as more severe airflow obstruction, than those who are exposed to only one type of smoke, according to the results of a new population-based study conducted by researchers in Colombia.
Patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) typically suffer from depression more frequently than those without COPD, resulting in higher levels of disability and illness and increasing the overall healthcare burden for the COPD population. Now, a study from researchers in Argentina indicates female COPD patients and patients who experience significant shortness of breath may have the greatest risk for developing depression.
Many studies have shown that men and women who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) - a disorder that causes breathing to halt intermittently during sleep – have a higher mortality rate than those who do not have the disorder. Now, a study from researchers at the Cleveland Clinic shows that OSA patients who also have poor functional capacity have an even greater risk of mortality and suggests that an assessment of functional capacity in this population can help physicians identify patients most at risk for death.
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who also have allergic disease have higher levels of respiratory symptoms and are at higher risk for COPD exacerbations, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The American Thoracic Society has released new official clinical practice guidelines on the diagnosis and management of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), the acute airway narrowing that occurs as a result of exercise.
A study of the genomes of more than 1,500 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis found multiple genetic associations with the disease. One variant in a gene called TOLLIP was linked to an increase in the risk of death. This finding suggests that an abnormal immune response to infectious agents or environmental injury may be central to the disease.
The chances of developing lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure, asbestosis and smoking are dramatically increased when these three risk factors are combined, and quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of developing lung cancer after long-term asbestos exposure, according to a new study.
As part of its awareness campaign to address chronic disease in the workplace, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is providing tools to help employers identify and respond to the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on worker health and productivity.
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Mayo Clinic has developed a new software tool to noninvasively characterize pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a common type of cancerous nodule in the lungs. Results from a pilot study of the computer-aided nodule assessment and risk yield (CANARY) are published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Among patients with the lung disorder non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin resulted in improvement in symptoms but also increased the risk of antibiotic resistance.
Among patients with the lung disorder non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, treatment with the antibiotic erythromycin resulted in improvement in symptoms but also increased the risk of antibiotic resistance, according to a study appearing in the March 27 issue of JAMA.
Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D can help people breathe better and may even protect against tuberculosis (TB), according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). The study of more than 10,000 Korean adults found that lung function improved when people had absorbed more vitamin D into their bodies.
UAB investigators have found a new pathway that contributes to an often fatal lung disease with no cure and no effective treatments, and possibly a way to shut that pathway down.
The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today announced the release of the Best Practices in Managing Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Compendium.
A pulmonologist explains why a person can function normally on one lung.
Outdoor heat is associated with a significantly increased risk of emergency hospitalization for respiratory disorders in the elderly, according to a large epidemiological study of more than 12.5 million Medicare beneficiaries.
A healthy lung has some capacity to regenerate itself like the liver. In COPD, these reparative mechanisms fail. HDAC therapies may be useful for COPD, as well as other airway diseases. The levels of HDAC2 expression and its activity are greatly reduced in COPD patients. Decreased HDAC activity may impair the ability of the lung epithelium to regenerate.
UAB treated the first patient in the nation in an experimental lung reduction procedure for emphysema.
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In a study of mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a new molecular pathway involved in the growth of tiny air sacs called alveoli that are crucial for breathing. The scientists say their experiments may lead to the first successful treatments to regrow the air sacs in people who suffer from diseases such as emphysema in which the air sacs have been destroyed by years of smoking. The work may also suggest new therapy for premature infants born before their lungs are fully developed.
Bronchiectasis is independently associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, according to a new study from researchers in Spain.
New research suggests that lowering excessive levels of a protein in immune system cells could be a strategy to clear an infection that is deadly to patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).
Lung and head and neck cancer patients who smoked before surgery are more likely to relapse than those who had quit before surgery, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers say. They found that smoking-relapse prevention interventions are needed immediately after surgery to help prevent relapse.
Severity of emphysema, as measured by computed tomography (CT), is a strong independent predictor of all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality in ever-smokers with or without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study from researchers in Norway.
A team of scientists has developed a playbook for ending the devastating impact of fibrotic diseases of the liver, lung, kidney, and other organs, which are responsible for as many as 45 percent of all deaths in the industrialized world.
Experimental technology could transform field of lung transplantation.
Respiratory conditions that restrict breathing such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common killers worldwide. But no effective treatments exist to address the major cause of death in these conditions – excess mucus production. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have described the molecular pathway responsible for excess mucus in airway cells and have used that information to design a series of new drugs that inhibit that pathway.
A novel brain mechanism mediating the inhibition of the critical breathing muscles during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been identified for the first time in a new study.
Respiratory symptoms vary significantly during different stages of the menstrual cycle, with higher frequencies during the mid-luteal to mid-follicular stages, according to a new study.
Researchers at UAB have performed the first U.S. trial of a foam sealant injected into the lungs.
Older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for carotid artery plaque formation and for the presence of vulnerable plaques with a lipid core, according to a new study from researchers in the Netherlands.
Study of cardiac patients found a cardioprotective role of sleep apnea during an acute Myocardial Infarction.
Among patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome, protective mechanical ventilation with use of lower tidal volumes (the volume of air inhaled and exhaled during each breath) was associated with better outcomes including less lung injury, lower mortality, fewer pulmonary infections and a shorter hospital length of stay.
Researchers at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System have identified a genetic signature that distinguishes patients with complicated sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that can be fatal, from patients with a more benign form of the disease. The gene signature could become the basis for a simple blood test.
Exposure to ambient air pollution from traffic during infancy is associated with lung function deficits in children up to eight years of age, particularly among children sensitized to common allergens, according to a new study.
Keeping the lungs healthy could be an important way to retain thinking functions that relate to problem-solving and processing speed in one’s later years, new research suggests.
A new study from a team of researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Monell Chemical Senses Center, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, reveals that a person’s ability to taste certain bitter flavors is directly related to their ability to fight off upper respiratory tract infections, specifically chronic sinus infections.
A new approach to lung scanning could improve the diagnosis and treatment of a lung disease that affects approximately 24 million Americans and is the country’s third-highest cause of death. The technique for analyzing CT scans distinguishes between early damage to the lungs, and more severe damage known as emphysema.
Simple postoperative activities such as deep coughing, getting out of bed, and walking improve pulmonary outcomes in patients who undergo major operations.
A University of Iowa-led research team has created the most detailed, three-dimensional rendering of a key region of a mammal lung. The model is important, because it can help scientists understand where and how lung diseases emerge as well as advance how drugs are delivered through the respiratory system. Results appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For at least some residents and workers exposed to dust and fumes after the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks, follow-up tests show gradual improvement in lung function, reports a study in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
A new University of Iowa study suggests there are two root causes of a type of diabetes associated with cystic fibrosis (CF). The findings, which already have sparked a clinical trial, may guide development of new treatments or even help prevent diabetes in patients with CF.
Feeling wheezy? You could call the doctor. Or soon you could use your smartphone to diagnose your lung health, with a new app that uses the frequencies in the breath to determine how much and how fast you can exhale.
In the first clinical trial to demonstrate an effective treatment for constant, disabling cough among people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that taking thalidomide significantly reduced the cough and improved quality of life. Results of their study are published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Sept. 18, 2012, in an article titled “Thalidomide for the Treatment of Cough in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.”
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