Sixty per cent of doctors' surgeries in Scotland prescribe homeopathic or herbal remedies, according to a study of nearly two million patients, published in the December issue of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.Researchers from the University of Aberdeen analysed official prescribing data from 2003-4, covering 1.9 million patients from 323 practices. [click link for full article]
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The initial step in establishing a physician reimbursement rate for the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide will go into effect in January 2007 with the awarding of a new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Category One code, CPT 95012, by the American Medical Association, Aerocrine Inc. announced today. NIOX measures airway inflammation in an easy non-invasive way with the results immediately available. [click link for full article]
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An experimental gene therapy to combat alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a common hereditary disorder that causes lung and liver disease, has caused no harmful effects in patients and shows signs of being effective, University of Florida researchers say. [click link for full article]
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The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is launching the largest randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness and safety of long-term, home oxygen therapy for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The six-year, $28 million project will study patients with moderate disease. [click link for full article]
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Cincinnati scientists have found further evidence that certain defensive white cells in the body cause or play a major role in the symptoms experienced by asthma patients.Their findings, scientists say, could lead to the identification of a new treatment "target" to help the estimated 17 million asthma sufferers in the United States. [click link for full article]
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When we drink alcohol, its "flag" precedes us, and enjoyment of large amounts of garlic or onion can often be detected by others the next morning. However, our breath does not only betray what we have consumed; some diseases also produce telltale breath odors. Breath analysis has some interesting advantages for clinical diagnosis, for example, unlike drawing blood, it requires no puncture. However, it has proven to be difficult. [click link for full article]
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COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in America, claiming the lives of 122,283 Americans in 2003. It is a term used to describe the obstruction of airflow associated primarily with emphysema and chronic bronchitis. While COPD cannot be cured, it can be treated. Smoking is the primary cause of COPD. About 90 percent of COPD cases are caused by smoking. Other risk factors include air pollution, secondhand smoke, history of childhood respiratory infections, and heredity. [click link for full article]
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Soaring summer temperatures can be a godsend for people with asthma but only if pollution levels are low, a Queensland University of Technology public health study has found.PhD student Cizao (Shezow) Ren, with Associate Professor Shilu Tong, studied the interaction between temperature and air pollution and its effect on hospital admissions in Brisbane city and surrounding suburbs. [click link for full article]
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Pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS, NASDAQ:PXSL) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated Bronchitol as a fast-track product for cystic fibrosis.The FDA fast-tracks the New Drug Application (NDA) process if a therapy can potentially address an unmet medical need for a life-threatening disease. Designation as a fast- track product is designed to expedite regulatory review of the Bronchitol NDA. [click link for full article]
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Novel H3N1 Swine Influenza Virus Identified in Pigs in KoreaFor the first time, researchers from the U.S. and abroad have identified the H3N1 swine influenza virus in domestic pigs in Korea. They report their findings in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.A highly infectious respiratory pathogen, the H3N1 influenza A virus is a new genetic reassortment of influenza viruses first identified in pigs in the U.S. in 2004. [click link for full article]
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