Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Pulmonology for June 2008. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Doctors Urged to Take Action on Climate Change
FRIDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Just as doctors helped change public attitudes about smoking, they should lead the way in changing attitudes about climate change, according to a Views & Reviews article published June 28 in BMJ.
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Guidelines for Treatment of Thrombosis Updated
TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) has published updated guidelines for the prevention, treatment and management of thrombosis in populations such as pregnant women, children and hospitalized patients in a supplement to the June issue of Chest.
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Protein Mediates Damage from Tobacco Pollutants
MONDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- Compounds present in cigarette smoke responsible for inflammation of lung nerve endings and respiratory hypersensitivity mediate their effects via an excitatory ion channel, according to a report published online June 20 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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Article Examines Use of 'Key Opinion Leaders' in Drug Sales
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Influential doctors known as "key opinion leaders" are paid generous fees to influence their peers to prescribe a company's drugs and may in fact be considered salespeople by the industry, according to an article in the June 21 issue of BMJ.
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Editorial - Fava
Combination Asthma Therapy Compared with Steroids Alone
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Salmeterol plus inhaled corticosteroids may decrease the risk for severe exacerbations, but does not appear to lower the risk of hospitalization, asthma-related deaths or intubations compared with inhaled corticosteroids alone, according to a new meta-analysis published in the July issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Bosentan Beneficial in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Bosentan, a dual endothelin receptor antagonist, was associated with improvements in pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with mildly symptomatic pulmonary arterial hypertension, according to research published in the June 21 issue of The Lancet.
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Too Many Asthmatics Don't Get Flu Shots, CDC Warns
FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Among asthmatics, influenza vaccination coverage is increasing but remains far below the Healthy People 2010 targets of 60 percent for persons aged 18 to 64 with high-risk conditions and 90 percent for all persons aged 65 and older, according to a report published in the June 20 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Radiofrequency Ablation Benefits Lung Cancer Patients
THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Radiofrequency ablation, an accepted treatment for non-surgical liver cancers, can yield sustained complete responses in patients with primary and metastatic lung tumors, according to an article published online June 18 in The Lancet Oncology.
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Similar Risk of Lung Cancer in Male and Female Smokers
MONDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) -- Female smokers are no more likely than male smokers to develop lung cancer, although among never-smokers, women may be at modestly higher risk compared with men, according to the results of a study published online June 14 in The Lancet Oncology.
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U.S. Death Rates Declined Sharply in 2006
MONDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) -- Death rates in the United States dropped significantly in 2006, and life expectancy reached a record high, according to a report released this week from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
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Carbocisteine Linked to Fewer COPD Exacerbations
FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- The use of carbocisteine reduced the number of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and improved their quality of life, according to research published in the June 14 issue of The Lancet.
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CT Lung Cancer Screenings Show Mixed Results
FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- In patients at high risk for lung cancer, regular helical computed tomographic screening may reduce long-term lung cancer-specific mortality. Because of other mortality risks associated with smoking, however, it may have a less significant effect on reducing overall mortality, according to research published in the July issue of Radiology.
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Aspergillosis Is Potentially Serious Hazard for Gardeners
FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- A 47-year-old U.K. man died of aspergillosis after exposure to aspergillis spores in decaying plant matter, which he inhaled during the course of working on his garden, according to a case report published in the June 14 issue of The Lancet.
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Smoking Needs Recognition as a Chronic Disorder
FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Tobacco addiction must be recognized as a chronic disorder that may require long-term treatment, which will have more success when treatments are better matched with patients, according to an article published in the June 14 issue of The Lancet.
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Myeloma Drug Relieves Lupus Pathology in Mice
WEDNESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Treating mice with lupus with bortezomib, a drug approved to treat multiple myeloma, eliminates autoreactive plasma cells, reduces glomerulonephritis and improves survival, according to study findings published online June 8 in Nature Medicine.
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Middle-Aged Smokers at Risk of Memory Loss
WEDNESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged smokers are at greater risk of poor memory, but studying the impact of smoking on cognition is hampered by the greater rate of loss to follow-up by death and non-participation in tests compared to non-smokers, according to study findings published in the June 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Cancer Costs Increasing Due to More Treatment
WEDNESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- The costs associated with treating cancer in the elderly have largely increased due to more patients receiving surgery and adjuvant treatment, and rising prices for these therapies, researchers report in the June 18 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Infant Pertussis Outbreak Traced to Hospital Worker
TUESDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- An outbreak of pertussis in the summer of 2004 in 11 infants born in a Texas hospital was linked to a health care worker at the hospital's newborn nursery with the illness, according to a report in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's June 6 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Nocturia Linked to Sleep Apnea in Younger Men
MONDAY, June 9 (HealthDay News) -- Nocturia -- defined as two or more voidings per night -- may be associated with obstructive sleep apnea in men younger than age 50, according to the results of a study published in the June issue of Urology.
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Alcohol May Protect Against Rheumatoid Arthritis
FRIDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- Alcohol consumption reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, particularly in smokers, with the degree of reduction dependent on the amount of alcohol consumed, according to a report published online June 5 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
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Study Says ICU Patients' Death Risk Higher with Certain Doctors
THURSDAY, June 5 (HealthDay News) -- Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) in the United States are more likely to die if they receive care entirely from physicians trained in critical care medicine, even after taking illness severity into account, according to an article in the June 3 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Dietary Flavonoids Linked to Lower Lung Cancer Risk
WEDNESDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- A diet that supplies greater amounts of flavonoid compounds such as epicatechin, catechin, quercetin and kaempferol may help lower the risk of lung cancer in smokers, according to research published in the May 15 issue of the journal Cancer.
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Tuberculosis False Positive Rate High in U.S. Army
MONDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Outbreaks of tuberculin skin test conversions among U.S. Army personnel are likely to be false positives, and the personnel have a low risk of tuberculosis infection due to limited exposure to locals, researchers report in the June 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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Prenatal Cigarette Smoke May Affect SIDS Risk
MONDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Rats prenatally exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to have gasping breathing patterns after hypoxia and take longer to recover normal breathing after hypoxia at higher temperatures, investigators have found. The research suggests that prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke may affect the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to a report in the June 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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