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Meet the health officials who alerted the world to the alarming vaping illness

Dr. Lynn D'Andrea knew something was amiss when three teenagers with similar mysterious, dangerous lung injuries came into the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin one after another, gasping for air.

25 Sep 2019

Scans show vaping teen’s lungs blocked with solidified oil

Vaping has been tied to many cases of severe lung disease, and some of the suspected cases have died. Doctors and health experts are looking for the exact cause of the illness, and now a new finding emerged, hinting that vaping could lead to deposits of what looked like oil in the lung

23 Sep 2019

Synthetic oral cannabinoid use found to be more common among older adults with COPD

A study published today in Drugs & Aging found that older adults in Ontario with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were twice as likely to use prescription synthetic oral cannabinoids compared to older adults without COPD.

23 Sep 2019

Novel gene therapy for glycogen storage disease shows positive results

At the Association for Glycogen Storage Disease's 41st Annual Conference, Dr. David Weinstein of UConn School of Medicine and Connecticut Children's presented his groundbreaking, one-year clinical trial results for the novel gene therapy treatment for glycogen storage disease.

20 Sep 2019

Study confirms lasting impact of neonatal CPAP technology in Malawi

Malawi's national adoption of affordable, rugged, neonatal CPAP technology as a part of routine hospital care resulted in sustained improvements in the survival of babies with respiratory illness, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

20 Sep 2019

Novel bathroom scale could monitor millions of heart failure patients

"Good morning. Bill. Please. Step onto the scale. Touch the metal pads." The device records an electrocardiogram from Bill's fingers and - more importantly - circulation pulsing that makes his body subtly bob up and down. Machine learning tools compute that Bill's heart failure symptoms have worsened.

20 Sep 2019

Philippines declares return of Polio after 19 years

The eradication of polio or poliomyelitis has been a success story for many countries across the globe, including the Philippines. For nearly two decades, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the country’s Department of Health (DOH) declared the nation polio-free, thanks to immunization programs and efforts.

20 Sep 2019

Sleep studies may be an unreliable predictor for treatment of children with sleep apnea

Pediatricians routinely advise parents of children who snore regularly and have sleepiness, fatigue or other symptoms consistent with sleep disordered breathing, to get a sleep study; this can help determine whether their child has obstructive sleep apnea, which is often treated with surgery to remove the tonsils and adenoids (adenotonsillectomy).

18 Sep 2019

Researchers identify two groups of neurons related to Leigh Syndrome

Leigh Syndrome affects one in every 40,000 newborns and is produced by deficits in the mitochondria, which are in charge of providing the energy needed for cells to function correctly.

18 Sep 2019

Study: Gene editing may correct genetic mutation responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare but devastating genetic disorder that causes muscle loss and physical impairments.

18 Sep 2019

Range of Valley fever expected to increase substantially, say UCI scientists

Valley fever is endemic to hot and dry regions such as the southwestern United States and California's San Joaquin Valley, but scientists at the University of California, Irvine predict that climate change will cause the fungal infection's range to more than double in size this century, reaching previously unaffected areas across the western U.S.

17 Sep 2019

Climate change likely to accelerate spread of valley fever

Valley fever is endemic to hot and dry regions like the southwestern United States and California's San Joaquin Valley, but a new study predicts climate change will cause the fungal infection's range to more than double in size this century, reaching previously unaffected areas across the western U.S.

16 Sep 2019

Fight or flight response may originate in our bones

A new study suggests that the main coordinator of the body’s fight-or-flight response is a hormone called osteocalcin, which is secreted by bone.

13 Sep 2019

Vapers seek relief from nicotine addiction in — wait for it — cigarettes

Lucas McClain started smoking cigarettes in high school but switched to vaping after he heard e-cigarettes were a safer alternative.

13 Sep 2019

Surgery crucial for people with drug-resistant epilepsy

Epilepsy is a chronic, central nervous system or neurological disorder wherein the brain activity becomes impaired, leading to seizures. In some cases, it leads to periods of unusual behavior, loss of awareness, or altered sensations.

12 Sep 2019

Identifying signs and symptoms of sepsis can reduce the number of fatal cases

Despite killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, sepsis is a condition few people know about.

11 Sep 2019

California hospitals and nursing homes brace for wildfire blackouts

California has seen a relatively slow start to this year's wildfire season, but Wanda Chaney still frets every time it's hot and windy in Chico, a college town about two hours north of Sacramento. She's far less worried about an actual wildfire than the power company shutting off her electricity to prevent one.

11 Sep 2019

CDC warns against vaping after series of lung-disease cases

E-cigarette use, also known as vaping, has become popular across all ages. Hundreds of people across the country have been sickened by a severe lung disease linked to e-cigarette use. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns the public not to use e-cigarettes due to the potential damage to the lungs.

9 Sep 2019

Vaping-related respiratory illness characterized by lipid-laden macrophages in the lungs

Doctors have identified a previously unrecognized characteristic of the vaping-related respiratory illness that has been emerging in clusters across the U.S. in recent months.

8 Sep 2019