copd

May 23, 2017

Customized, frequent emails show promise in tobacco cessation

Smokers who received frequent, tailored emails with quitting tips, motivational messages, and social support had cessation rates rivaling that of the most effective medication available for cessation, according to a new American Cancer Society study. The study appears in Tobacco Control. New communication technologies have the potential to provide more cheaply the same kinds of social…

May 09, 2017

Study Shows: COPD Patients with NTM-PD Face Higher Mortality

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who also have non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) are more likely to be hospitalized and die, according to a German study that urges improved care for this particular disease. The study, “Burden of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease in Germany,” appeared in the European Respiratory Journal in an article….

April 10, 2017

Lung Institute Plans Initiative to Decrease Number of COPD Patients with Depression

To shine a light on the link between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and depression, the Lung Institute is starting an initiative to help combat depression in COPD patients. It kicked off on World Health Day, April 7. The initiative will seek to decrease the prevalence of depression in people with COPD by helping them improve their quality of life. Depression…

February 27, 2017

New Evidence That Vitamin D Prevents Respiratory Infections

A large-scale meta-analysis using more than 10,000 participants concludes that vitamin D supplementation may help to prevent a major cause of global death – acute respiratory tract infections. Acute respiratory tract infections are responsible for 10 percent of ambulance and emergency room visits in the United States. Including anything from the common cold to pneumonia…

February 13, 2017

Weather and Your Lungs

“What’s the weather going to be today?” It’s a frequent question that has larger implications for those with lung disease. Whether it’s summer or winter, rainy or windy, people with lung disease should pay attention to the weather report as sudden changes in the weather as well as extreme weather conditions can provoke lung symptoms….

January 16, 2017

Antipsychotics May Boost Respiratory Failure Risk in COPD

Antipsychotics have been tied to acute respiratory failure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Taiwanese researchers reported. In a population-based, case-crossover study, more COPD patients had filled a prescription for antipsychotics 2 weeks before having acute respiratory failure compared with a control period several months prior (11.7% versus 8.8%), Meng-Ting Wang, PhD, of…

October 17, 2016

Researchers Study Diagnostic Error in Asthma, COPD

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study the impact of diagnostic error on outcomes for pulmonary patients and the use of lung-function testing in primary care. More than 30 million adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed…

September 19, 2016

Decline in Smoking is Reducing COPD Deaths

Fewer Americans are dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but not black women and the middle-aged, a new government report shows. Between 2000 and 2014, there was a 12 percent overall drop in deaths from the progressive lung disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Report co-author Hanyu Ni said…