Asthma News and Research

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Asthma is a common inflammatory disease affecting the airways that leads to shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing. Symptoms range from mild to severe but are generally manageable with appropriate treatment.

New initiative to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced last night during a visit to Navajo Country $4.25 million to support a new initiative to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality.

21 Jul 2004

New test to help detect and treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Australian doctors are pioneering a new test to help detect and treat one of the world's biggest killers - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

20 Jul 2004

Cincinnati should go smoke-free

Cincinnati has just begun to consider strengthening its smoking restrictions. Anything short of protecting all workers' health would be just blowing smoke.

19 Jul 2004

General childhood intelligence may be an important and informative early determinant of subsequent adult health

Intelligent children may be less likely to develop serious disease in adulthood than their less intelligent peers, suggests a long term study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

15 Jul 2004

Adults with asthma may have an increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

According to a 20-year study published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), patients with asthma were 12 times more likely than nonasthmatics to develop COPD later in life.

13 Jul 2004

New guidelines for pulmonary arterial hypertension caution the use of calcium channel blockers

A new evidence-based guideline for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cautions the use of calcium channel blockers, a commonly used treatment for high blood pressure, in unstable patients due to the potentially fatal side effects associated with the medication.

13 Jul 2004

More than 75% of children with asthma were unprepared for an exercise-induced asthma attacks

Since exercise can be a trigger for asthma attacks and inhalers are the best treatment, the researchers stressed that it’s critical inhalers be available during physical activity.

10 Jul 2004

Heavy drinking during teenage years begins taking a serious health toll by the time people are 24 years old

A University of Washington study has found that people who began binge drinking at age 13 and continued throughout adolescence were nearly four times as likely to be overweight or obese and almost 3½ times as likely to have high blood pressure when they were 24 years old

9 Jul 2004

High levels of endotoxin, a bacterial compound that collects in house dust, may lower likelihood of eczema in children

Children whose homes contain high levels of endotoxin, a bacterial compound that collects in house dust, may be less likely to develop eczema during their first year of life

6 Jul 2004

The number of pediatricians in the United States rose by 140 percent between 1978 and 2000

America’s children have many more pediatricians available to treat them today than they did 25 years ago, a new study finds, but the doctors aren’t always where the children are.

4 Jul 2004

Secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease among non-smokers by as much as 60 percent

Exposure to secondhand smoke is even more dangerous than previously thought and increases the risk of heart disease among non-smokers by as much as 60 percent.

2 Jul 2004

Employers are key to overcoming U.S. breastfeeding dilemma

The United States government has launched a year-long national awareness campaign consisting of public service announcements (PSAs) for print media, radio and television, all to help the American public better understand the significant health benefits that breastfeeding provides to mothers and babies.

1 Jul 2004

From potent painkillers to humble cough syrups, the same medicines that help patients misused by teens

From potent painkillers to humble cough syrups, the same medicines that can help patients can also be misused to produce a high feeling. And they can hurt teens or hook them into addiction just as easily as other illicit drugs.

1 Jul 2004

Doctors call on the British Government to make all workplaces smokefree

Today (Wednesday 30 June) at the BMA's annual conference in Llandudno, Dr Peter Maguire signed a giant prescription form in front of 500 doctors calling on the Government to make all workplaces smokefree.

30 Jun 2004

States working to protect public health through fine particle standard

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informed states and tribes of the status of counties as the country prepare to meet the nation's first fine particle (PM2.5) air quality standard.

29 Jun 2004

Khat plant may create next men’s fertility wonder drug

Now, researchers at the Centre for Reproduction, Endocrinology and Diabetes at King’s College London, UK, have studied the effects of PPAs on mouse and human sperm and found the first evidence that they stimulate the final stage of sperm maturation (capacitation) when sperm develop the ability to fertilize an egg.

28 Jun 2004

A viral respiratory infection common in children increases the risk of developing asthma

The study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, is the first to show a link between respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, infection and asthma in mice. A related study, also in mice, suggests that a medication neutralizing the virus could decrease children's chances of developing asthma.

28 Jun 2004

New medical imaging equipment provides early detection of skin cancer

Could You Have Skin Cancer? Do you know if you have skin cancer or if you have skin lesions that could develop into skin cancer? Early detection of these ticking time bombs enhances survival.

From Siemens Healthineers 28 Jun 2004

Antibiotic use early in life does not increase the subsequent risk of asthma

Previous research has indicated that infections in early life may offer protection from developing asthma. Therefore, it has been suggested that antibiotics increase the risk of asthma by reducing the protective effect of infections or by interfering with normal bacterial flora in the gut.

26 Jun 2004

British government's new NHS improvement plan

People who need an operation will wait no more than 18 weeks by 2008, Health Secretary John Reid said today.

24 Jun 2004