Researchers Find Declining Trend in Lung Tumors
Newswise — Despite a global increase in adenocarcinoma of the lung throughout the last half century, new research reveals that a continuous decline of malignant tumors is now evident in the United States. Researchers from Georgia and Alabama reviewed data from The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program and found that from 1973 to 1998 incidence rates of adenocarcinoma of the lung were increased 83 percent in men and more than 200 percent in women. But, from 1999 to 2003, the rates were shown to decline by 14 percent in men and 8 percent in women. Researchers suggest possible causes of the decline could be attributed to decrease in air pollution, the increase use of low-tar cigarettes, or a decline in environmental tobacco smoke exposure. This study appears in the April issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Statins May Reduce Death in Pneumonia/Flu
New research suggests that statins may be useful when treating infection-related influenza and pneumonia. In a matched cohort study (76,232 subjects) and two separate case-control studies (397 influenza deaths and 207 COPD deaths), researchers from New Mexico evaluated mortality risk and survival times using health-care encounter data. Researchers found that influenza and pneumonia death odds ratios were significantly less in moderate-dose statin users in the cohort study. These findings were successfully confirmed with the case-control studies, as well. This study appears in the April issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Affects of Smoking Tested in the Young and Healthy
A new study shows that left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, which is often impaired by age or obesity, is also affected by smoking in the young and physically fit. Researchers from Poland examined 66 volunteers, who were all under the age of 40 and had a body mass index less than 25, and split them into two groups according to smoking status: 33 healthy smokers and 33 non-smokers. Members of the healthy smokers group received an echocardiographic examination before and after smoking one cigarette, and researchers then evaluated pulmonary venous flow (PVF) and tricuspid valve flow (TVF) to assess diastolic function. Results showed that mitral valve flow (MVF) and PVF in the healthy smokers demonstrated LV relaxation impairment, and that TVF showed right ventricular relaxation impairment in healthy smokers, before and after smoking one cigarette. Heart rate was also shown to be significantly higher in healthy smokers after smoking a cigarette, when compared with the healthy smokers before smoking a cigarette and nonsmokers. This study appears in the April issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
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