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…
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…
The COPD Foundation is extremely pleased to announce that a new clinical biomarker, plasma fibrinogen, has been approved for use in interventional clinical trials in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the nation’s 3rd leading cause of death. This is the first COPD biomarker to receive qualification by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)…
The higher the power of an e-cigarette, the higher the concentrations of potentially hazardous substances the device produces, including acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde. Those are among the findings presented at an international conference of the American Thoracic Society by lead study author Dr. Daniel Sullivan, an internal medicine resident at the University of Texas Southwestern…
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have found, for the first time, that spirometry was underutilized for asthma diagnosis and management in U.S. adults from 2001 to 2011, despite it’s accuracy, cost effectiveness and the publication of national guidelines advocating its use. Spirometry is a common test that allows physicians to…
In the Issue of the New England Journal of Medicine an investigation of the role of financial incentives and nudges in promoting smoking cessation, with particular emphasis on the importance of loss aversion and pre-commitment is explored. In the past 40 years, we have seen a revolution in thinking about thinking. The central idea is…