Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that more than 50 percent of the current asthma cases in the country can be attributed to allergies, with approximately 30 percent of those cases attributed to cat allergy."It has long been debated whether people who develop asthma have a genetic propensity to develop allergies, or atopy," said Darryl C. Zeldin, M.D., a senior investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). [click link for full article]
(more...)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking action on approximately 200 cough-suppressant products, many of which are mistakenly being given to children. Hydrocodone is a narcotic commonly used for the treatment of pain and suppressing coughs. The FDA informs that this action should not involve other FDA approved formulations. [click link for full article]
(more...)

Patients with acute lung injury (ALI) are nearly one third less likely to die if they are treated at ICUs that require board certified critical care physicians to oversee patient care, as compared to patients treated at ICUs that allow any attending physician to oversee admission and case management.ALI is an inflammatory disorder of the lung often seen in patients with pneumonia or sepsis. Mortality rates are high about 40 percent and worsen with age and co morbidities. [click link for full article]
(more...)

Researchers in Brazil have found that treating patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) dramatically reduces early indications of atherosclerosis in just months, linking OSA directly to the hardening or narrowing of the arteries. Until now, no study has demonstrated such a direct relationship between the two. [click link for full article]
(more...)

A lack of family support and problems in one's neighborhood are associated with greater asthma symptoms in children and adolescents, according to researchers in Vancouver, Canada. Social environment has long been thought to be an important factor in asthma manifestations in youth, but few studies have empirically tested social factors at the family, peer and neighborhood levels and their implications for childhood asthma.Edith Chen, Ph.D. [click link for full article]
(more...)

The Society for Women's Health Research gathered three lung cancer experts on Capitol Hill on September 17, 2007 to inform Congress on the need for increased funding to research lung cancer and its impact on women. "We focused on lung cancer today because lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both women and men in America," said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W, president and CEO of the Society, a Washington, D.C. based advocacy organization. [click link for full article]
(more...)

Extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) represents a spectre for the civil society and a major challenge for the TB control community. The ERS has played a key role in fighting XDR-TB, promoting important studies and publishing some of them in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientific publication of the ERS. [click link for full article]
(more...)

GlaxoSmithKline Australia (GSK) has advised all pharmacists today that the Serevent (salmeterol xinafoate) Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) will be discontinued as of 31st December 2007 as its CFC propellant is being phased out in accordance with International Standards.The Serevent Accuhaler continues to be available for the treatment of COPD and asthma and GSK is committed to its ongoing supply. [click link for full article]
(more...)

Despite widespread belief among cancer patients and health care professionals that acupuncture helps relieve nausea caused by cancer treatment, new research in radiotherapy has found it does not. [click link for full article]
(more...)

Patients with a pulmonary embolism (PE; a blood clot in the lungs) are usually kept in hospital to receive anticoagulation with an injected drug, such as tinzaparin, until an oral anticoagulant becomes effective (warfarin). This has been the preferred way of treating patients with a similar but less serious condition, deep vein thrombosis (DVT; blood clots in the legs), for some years. [click link for full article]
(more...)