Inconsistencies across studies and sampling errors remain major barriers to understanding how the lung microbiome changes with tuberculosis, according to a review published today in Clinical Microbiology Reviews.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for latent tuberculosis infection in populations at increased risk. The report appears in the September 6 issue of JAMA.
A post-marketing safety study mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has shown that a combination drug therapy for the treatment of asthma is safe and effective.
Results of a study published in PLOS ONE show that asthma risk increased 17 times when children who had bronchiolitis in the first two years of life also had a common variation of the Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) gene.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently awarded $149,388 to Collaborations Pharma, Inc. (CPI) to initiate a partnership with Rutgers aimed at developing a series of compounds for treating tuberculosis (TB).
Research from investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Princeton University has identified a new approach to cancer therapy in cutting off a cancer cell’s ‘fuel supply’ by targeting a cellular survival mechanism known as autophagy.
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified a new disease gene that, when mutated, appears to increase the risk in a small number of people of developing emphysema and a lung-scarring condition known as pulmonary fibrosis.
The study compared seven different ventilation strategies. Based on data collected from 30 different trials and over 5,500 infants younger than 33 weeks’ gestational ag.,
As humans evolved over many thousands of years, our bodies developed a system to help us when we start running and suddenly need more oxygen. Now, using that innate reflex as inspiration, UCLA researchers have developed a noninvasive way to treat potentially harmful breathing problems in babies who were born prematurely.
Researchers have found that the infant airway is already colonized with bacteria when a baby is born — and this is true for infants born as early as 24 weeks gestation. The pattern of colonization appears to have an important link to later severe neonatal lung disease.
A study led by Professor Daniel Tenen, Director of the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore, found that inhibiting a protein called BMI1 could inhibit the development of lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths, accounting for about a third of all tumor-related deaths. Adenocarcinomas, a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), account for about 40 percent of cancer diagnoses, but few treatments are available for the disease. A team of investigators led by Elena Levantini, PhD, a research associate in Hematology-Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, have identified a subtype of human adenocarcinoma. The research could help determine which individuals are at greatest risk of developing lung tumors that may be amenable to a new therapy to inhibit their progression.
The American Thoracic Society has issued clinical practice guidelines to help pediatricians and pediatric pulmonologists evaluate infants with recurrent or persistent wheezing. “Official ATS American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guidelines: Diagnostic Evaluation of Infants with Recurrent or Persistent Wheezing” is published in the Society’s Aug. 1 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and is available online.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a new way to target lung cancer through the KRAS gene, one of the most commonly mutated genes in human cancer and one researchers have so far had difficulty targeting successfully.
Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a new way that tuberculosis bacteria get into the body, revealing a potential therapeutic angle to explore
The lay press and thousands of nutritional products warn of oxygen radicals or oxidative stress and suggest taking so-called antioxidants to prevent or cure disease. Professor Pietro Ghezzi at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Professor Harald Schmidt at the University of Maastricht have analyzed the evidence behind this. The result is a clear warning: do not take these supplements unless a clear deficiency is diagnosed by a healthcare professional.
No one knows for sure how they got there. But the discovery that bacteria that normally live in the gut can be detected in the lungs of critically ill people and animals could mean a lot for intensive care patients.
The atomic structure of an elusive cold virus linked to severe asthma and respiratory infections in children has been solved by a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Purdue University. The findings provide the foundation for future antiviral drug and vaccine development against the virus, rhinovirus C.
The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) is launching a major international clinical trial to test a minimally invasive and safer surgical approach for patients with lung cancer: video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy with ultrasonic pulmonary artery sealing.
Rush University Medical Center received the ELSO Award for Excellence in Life Support – the most prestigious designation in critical care by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization. Rush is the only full service adult and pediatric academic medical center in Chicago and Illinois to receive the Designated Gold Level Center of Excellence designation.
NIBIB-funded scientists used computers to model the formation of tuberculosis granulomas in the lung -- the non-active (latent) form of infection found in 2 billion individuals worldwide (11 million in the U.S.) that can activate to become a life-threatening infection. Employing a computer model aims to speed analysis of TB’s complex life-cycle and to identify potential new antibiotics, antibiotic targets, and biomarkers that can predict transition to active infection.
Johns Hopkins researchers report they have figured out a root cause of the lung damage that occurs in up to 10 percent of premature infants who develop necrotizing enterocolitis, a disorder that damages and kills the lining of the intestine.
The College of American Pathologists (CAP), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announced today the open comment period for the revised evidence-based guideline, “Molecular Testing Guideline for Selection of Lung Cancer Patients for EGFR and ALK Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors.”
What used to take several weeks is now possible in two days: thanks to new molecular-based methods, mycobacterial pathogens that cause pulmonary infections or tuberculosis can now be detected much more quickly. Time-consuming bacteria cultures no longer need to be taken from the patient samples, meaning that a suitable therapy can be started quickly.
For the first time in human application, Mayo Clinic researchers successfully closed an open wound on the upper chest caused by postoperative complications of lung removal. The protocol and approach were based on an ongoing trial investigating this method to treat anal fistulas in Crohn’s disease.
Free radicals can reach the endoplasmic reticulum, a cellular organelle that is critical in manufacturing and transporting fats, steroids, hormones and various proteins, and alter its function by oxidizing and damaging its most abundant and crucial to protein folding chaperone, Protein Disulfide Isomerase (PDI).
Since the 1980s, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) – in which positive pressure is pushed through the nasal airways to help users breathe while sleeping – has been by far the most widely used treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). With more than 18 million people experiencing OSA, a number expected to rise, new results from a Penn case study of a new device implanted in the chest called hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) offers promise for patients with moderate to severe OSA who cannot tolerate CPAP. Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will present data (abstract 0378) on their outcomes with hypoglossal nerve stimulation for the treatment of patients with sleep apnea at SLEEP 2016, the 30th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.
Being able to identify lung cancer “signature” through a simple breath test has emerged as one of the most promising ways to diagnose the disease. Now the test is being used to monitor for disease recurrence.
A new study led by researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Genetic Disease Screening Program of the California Department of Public Health sheds light on some of those genetic mutations and the impact for those who carry them.
Stony Brook University researchers believe the key to discovering better treatments for chronic lung diseases sits with the p73 gene. They found that this gene is the master regulator of a cell type that is responsible for constantly cleaning our airways from inhaled pollutants, pathogens and dust.
A new three-year $1.1 million grant from NASA is helping several organizations fine-tune current red tide forecasts in the Gulf of Mexico with the goal of offering public health managers, coastal residents and visitors a forecast that better reflects coastal conditions on more localized scales.
The UK Lung cancer screening trial (UKLS) has been successfully completed and demonstrated that patients with a high risk of developing lung cancer can be identified with early stage disease and have up to a 73% chance of surviving for five years or more. The UKLS trial was conducted by experts in the University of Liverpool.
Bioabsorbable heart valves or blood vessels are designed to harness the body’s innate healing process, enabling the natural restoration of complex body parts as the synthetic graft is absorbed. At the 96th AATS Annual Meeting, surgeons from the Bakoulev Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, Moscow report the results of implantation of bioabsorbable vascular grafts placed into five children born with serious cardiovascular anomalies. According to the investigators, this is the first-ever clinical trial of a bioabsorbable cardiovascular device.
Little is known about mitral valve (MV) surgical outcomes within the largest US federal health system – the Veterans Administration (VA) Health System. At the 96th AATS Annual Meeting, data presented from 40 VA cardiac surgery centers reveal that although MV repair rates increased from 48% in 2001 to 63% in 2013, a wide variability exists in repair rates among medical centers. This is especially important because MV repair mortality rates were significantly lower in patients with primary degenerative disease.
A team of surgeons in Japan has developed a technique to relieve airway obstruction in children. The technique, known as external stenting (ES), expands and stabilizes the airway by suspending its wall to a rigid prosthesis placed around the bronchus or trachea. ES avoids the problem of granulation formation resulting from endolumenal corrective approaches, such as endoscopic stent placement. In a presentation at the 96th AATS Annual Meeting, the researchers describe the ES technique in detail as well as report on indications, complications, and long-term outcomes.
In an ongoing prospective study involving 1,311 patients from five nations, researchers found that untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was associated with increased risk of a Major Adverse Cardiac and Cerebrovascular Event (MACCE) -- cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack), non-fatal stroke, and unplanned revascularization such as heart bypass surgery and angioplasty. The new research, from the Sleep and Stent Study, was presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference.
During heart surgery, it is sometimes necessary to temporarily stop cardiac activity, a process known as cardioplegia. Specific myocardial protection techniques are necessary for pediatric use. At the 96th AATS Annual Meeting, cardiac surgeons present the results of a prospective, randomized trial of pediatric heart surgery patients that shows that the del Nido cardioplegia solution, a new, long-acting agent, offers significant advantages over conventional cardioplegia, including reduced cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times and faster onset of action.
New research has found that a process initiated in white blood cells known as neutrophils may lead to worse outcomes for some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The discovery may help identify patients at higher risk for COPD progression, who might also show little benefit from standard treatments. The study was presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference.
Nearly half (48%) of patients with severe or difficult-to-treat asthma in The Epidemiology and Natural History of Asthma: Outcomes and Treatment Regimens follow-up study (TENOR II) still had very poorly controlled (VPC) symptoms after more than a decade of treatment, according to a new study presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference. The risk of persistent VPC asthma was associated with specific demographic and clinical factors.
Motivational interviewing, a goal-oriented, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change used in health coaching, is a feasible intervention that may reduce short-term readmissions for COPD patients. The study, which was presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference, is the first available randomized study to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention.
A rare, severe form of pulmonary hypertension, which up until now, has only been classified as a human lung disease, has also been discovered in dogs according to a Michigan State University study.
Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered a new molecule which has the potential to prolong the life of individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF).