Feature Channels: Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

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Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survivors who never smoked or who are former smokers at the time of diagnosis have a lower risk of developing secondary primary lung cancers (SPLC) compared to those who are current smokers, suggesting that increased tobacco exposure is associated with a higher risk of SPLC, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 56th Annual Meeting.

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According to the findings from research conducted over the past several years at Stony Brook Medicine’s World Trade Center Health Program, as many as 60 percent of 9/11 World Trade Center responders continue to experience clinically significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and lower respiratory illness.

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In a new study that compared people with and without asthma, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found no difference in the key immune response to viruses in the lungs and breathing passages. The work suggests that a fundamental antiviral defense mechanism is intact in asthma. This means that another aspect of the immune system must explain the difficulty people with asthma have when they encounter respiratory viruses.

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Two new potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a deadly disease marked by high blood pressure in the lungs, have been identified by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Their findings are reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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Caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity has no long-term harmful effects on sleep or control of breathing, according to a new study of 201 preterm children assessed at ages 5-12, the first study in humans to examine the long-term effects of neonatal caffeine treatment on sleep regulation and ventilatory control.

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Endoscopic biopsy of lymph nodes between the two lungs (mediastinum) is a sensitive and accurate technique that can replace mediastinal surgery for staging lung cancer in patients with potentially resectable tumours.

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NCCN has published the 20th annual edition of its NCCN Guidelines® for Small Cell Lung Cancer, marking the first 20th edition of the eight original NCCN Guidelines published in November 1996.

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Indiana University researchers have isolated the inflammatory process that causes lung damage to individual who suffered traumatic brain injury, many of whom could have been lung transplanat donors.

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Questions regarding effectiveness, infrastructure and cost effectiveness of low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening of those at high risk for lung cancer have now been answered. Medicare should rapidly provide full national coverage for these exams.

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Researchers have found a way to take a pediatric patient’s skin cells, reprogram the skin cells to function as heart valvular cells, and then use the cells as part of a tissue-engineered pulmonary valve

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Oxidized lipids are known to play a key role in inflaming blood vessels and hardening arteries, which causes diseases like atherosclerosis. A new study at UCLA demonstrates that they may also contribute to pulmonary hypertension, a serious lung disease that narrows the small blood vessels in the lungs. Using a rodent model, the researchers showed that a peptide mimicking part of the main protein in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called “good” cholesterol, may help reduce the production of oxidized lipids in pulmonary hypertension. They also found that reducing the amount of oxidized lipids improved the rodents’ heart and lung function.

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Among infants presenting to a pediatric emergency department with mild to moderate bronchiolitis, those with an artificially elevated oxygen saturation reading were less likely to be hospitalized or receive hospital care for more than 6 hours than those with unaltered readings, suggesting that these readings should not be the only factor in the decision to admit or discharge, according to a study in the August 20 issue of JAMA.

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Reserachers show that a specialized subset of lung cells can shake flu infection, yet they remain stamped with an inflammatory gene signature that wreaks havoc in the lung.

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Links between a number of common respiratory diseases and an increased risk of developing lung cancer have been found in a large pooled analysis of seven studies involving more than 25,000 individuals.

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Researchers at RTI International, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have developed a new lung-on-chip microdevice for laboratory studies of respiratory challenges and therapeutics. The microdevice includes multiple vertically stacked cellular layers that mimic the structure of the airway tissue.

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Researchers reveal how a lung-damaging bacterium turns the body's antibody response in its favor.

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A simplified anesthesia procedure may enable more widespread use of preoperative testing to demonstrate the cause of airway obstruction in patients with severe sleep apnea, suggests a study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.

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Antismoking advertising effectively promotes attempts to quit smoking among vulnerable population groups, including minorities and people with lower education and income, according to a new study by researcher at RTI International.

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The groundbreaking scientific studies featured at the 2014 AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo will include research on a blood test for Alzheimer’s that uses biochip technology, a new test to diagnose colon cancer early, a more accurate method for determining multiple myeloma prognosis, a less stressful test for sleep apnea, and the development of a bank of biospecimens from pregnant women that could prove crucial for women’s health research.

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In lab experiments using tissue samples cultured from cystic fibrosis patients, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and the UNC Marsico Lung Institute have shown that a new CF drug counteracts the intended beneficial molecular effect of another CF drug.

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Pulmonary inflammation can cause shallow breathing and the lungs to become brittle in patients who experience multiple blood transfusions, sepsis, lung surgery and acute lung trauma. This complication can leave patients on ventilators, which can further traumatize the lungs, and often results in a mortality rate of 30 to 40 percent. To date, no medication has been successful at preventing or mitigating the damage caused by lung inflammation. Now, a multidisciplinary research team led by David Eckmann, MD, PhD, Horatio C. Wood Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of Bioengineering in Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, has found that when delivered by a microscopic transporter called a nanocarrier, steroids can access the hard-to-reach lung endothelial cells that need it most and are successful at preventing inflammation in mice.

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In a new study of the causes underlying respiratory symptoms in military personnel returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, a large percentage of veterans had non-specific symptoms that did not lead to a specific clinical diagnosis.

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The so called fatty liver disease that long time drinkers develop may extend to the lung in a newly discovered side effect of drinking in rats that researchers are calling fatty lung disease.

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A Johns Hopkins-led research team has found that motivational interviewing, along with standard education and awareness programs, significantly reduced secondhand smoke exposure among children living in those households.

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Researchers from The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles are employing state-of-the-art animation technology, in combination with advanced optical imaging and high-resolution x-ray imaging techniques, to map the developing human lung.

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National and state air pollution controls that went into effect in the early 1990s coincide with decreasing death rates from emphysema, asthma and pneumonia among people in North Carolina, according to a study led by Duke University researchers.

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Researchers have identified hundreds of long non-coding RNAs expressed in developing and adult lungs. Many of these non-protein-coding RNAs in the lung regulate gene expression by opening and closing the DNA scaffolding on neighboring genes.

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A first-of-its-kind yoga exercise program has been developed by Henry Ford Hospital for patients living with pulmonary hypertension, a chronic lung disease that afflicts women at least two times more than men. Called Yoga for PH, the 40-minute program includes three yoga exercise levels and a nutrition and lifestyle discussion. It is available for free download on iTunes and Googleplay.

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The American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) today announced the release of the Best Practices in Managing Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Compendium.

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Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) has launched a patient registry to help researchers and clinicians identify, manage and study people who have a progressive lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The registry, a joint effort by DCRI and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is the first multi-center registry in the United States focused specifically on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

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UNC School of Medicine researchers have provided the first quantitative evidence that mucins – the protein framework of mucus – are significantly increased in cystic fibrosis patients and play a major role in failing lung function.

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A study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2014 reports the results of a first-in-human, phase 1 dose escalation trial of crizotinib (XALKORI) in 14 patients with advanced, MET-amplified non-small cell lung cancer (NCT00585195).

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Results of a University of Colorado Cancer Center study presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) show that a test of organic compounds in exhaled breath can not only distinguish patients with lung cancer from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but can also define the stage of any cancer present.

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Late Pulmonary Function Abnormalities are Common Among Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans

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ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO – Sure, everyone knows a healthy diet provides lots of health benefits for patients with respiratory diseases, but now a new study has shown a direct link between eating fish, fruit and dairy products and improved lung function among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

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Reminders prompting asthma patients to take their control inhalers if they miss a dose significantly improve medication adherence, according to a primary-care based study conducted by a research team in Australia. In this six-month investigation, patients receiving reminders took on average 73% of their prescribed doses compared to only 46% in patients who did not have reminders.

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Maternal intake of dietary methyl donors during the first trimester of pregnancy modulates the risk of developing childhood asthma at age 7, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Both high and low frequency hearing impairment have been linked with sleep apnea in a new study of nearly 14,000 individuals.

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ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ The link between stroke and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been established by several clinical studies in recent years, with the most significant risks attributed to male patients. Now, a new study by researchers from Boston says the link between OSA and stroke may be just as strong among women.

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In adults with persistent asthma, elevated blood eosinophil levels may be able to predict which individuals are at increased risk for exacerbations, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Cigarette smoking and male sex are significant risk factors for developing ocular sarcoidosis, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ Pulmonary hypertension patients from lower socioeconomic groups present for initial evaluation at a more advanced disease state than those from higher income groups, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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In patients with congestive heart failure, obesity and a larger waist size have paradoxically been associated with a better prognosis in the prior investigations. This effect, known as the obesity paradox phenomenon, is now being demonstrated in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension.

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Home testing of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) followed by initiation of home treatment with an auto-titrating continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device reduced costs compared with in-laboratory testing and titration without negatively impacting clinical outcomes, researchers have shown in a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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A pedometer-based walking program supported by Internet-based instruction and support can improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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A large study of intensive care patients in California found that public reporting of patient outcomes did not reduce mortality, but did result in reduced admission of the sickest patients to the ICU and increased transfer of critically ill patients to other hospitals.

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Taking olive oil supplements may counteract some of the adverse cardiovascular effects of exposure to air pollution, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Patients who have survived a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) have a greatly increased risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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After a year of being treated with a novel drug, patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and those with persistent or recurrent pulmonary hypertension after an operation for the disease showed sustained improvement in a multicenter, international trial presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Children who are exposed in utero to high levels of particulate air pollution during the second trimester of pregnancy may be at greater risk of developing asthma in early childhood, according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.