Children who are raised in households with dogs or farm animals during their first year of life may have a lower risk of asthma a few years later, a new study suggests. In the study, the researchers looked at early exposure to dogs and farm animals and the rate of asthma among about 377,000 preschool-age…
If post-bronchodilator spirometry is required for the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), why doesn’t every single primary care physician do it? A University-based Primary Care Clinic (PCC) analysis revealed that only 19% of patients with COPD had undergone spirometry testing, which determines how well the lungs work by measuring oxygen flow. With COPD…
While smoking is linked to an increased risk of developing diabetes, this risk appears to drop over the long term once cigarette use stops, a review of evidence suggests. Researchers analyzed data on almost 5.9 million people in 88 previous studies examining the connection between smoking, second-hand smoke exposure and diabetes. They estimated that roughly…
Personalized medicine was a key theme here at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2015, especially for complicated diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and interstitial lung fibrosis. “We’re using platforms that measure genes and proteins and metabolomic consequences of the disease, and trying to work backward from those profiles to mechanistic…
After children head back to school, they go straight into peak virus season. If your child patients have asthma, this can exasperate the condition. It’s important to anticipate heightened symptoms and have a plan in place, says Giovanni Piedimonte, MD, Institute Chair for Pediatrics and staff physician for the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Pediatric Pulmonary…
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often display inhibited mitochondrial protein pathways, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Researchers from Brown University examined healthy patients’ and smoking patients’ lung samples in order to demonstrate that the expression of the pathways in immune responses is decreased in COPD patients. The…
A bacterial enzyme may be a future candidate in smoking cessation, according to a new study led by researchers at The Scripps Institute. Findings from the study are published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Current smoking cessation aids have proven to be ineffective in at least 80–90% of smokers. This novel enzyme…
Blood lipid profiles are associated with childhood asthma, airway obstruction, bronchial responsiveness, and aeroallergen sensitization, researchers from Denmark report. Dr. Hans Bisgaard from the University of Copenhagen told Reuters Health by email that he was surprised by the “significant association between serum lipids and asthma and allergy. This association is similar to the association found…