Respiratory News and Research

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Red Bull energy drink does not improve a person’s physical performance

Energy drinks – usually a mixture of caffeine, taurine, carbohydrates, B-complex vitamins and gluconolactone – have become very popular in recent years.

15 Sep 2004

WHO calls enhanced preparedness for SARS and avian influenza

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to put in place preventive measures and enhance preparedness ready for the possible re-emergence of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and avian influenza A (H5N1) in humans.

14 Sep 2004

First molecular-scale images of DNA binding to an adenovirus enzyme

The images, which appear on the cover of the October 2004 issue of Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, show how binding to DNA may stimulate the enzyme and are already being used to design new antiviral drugs to block this interaction.

14 Sep 2004

Schering-Plough and Bayer form strategic alliance

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Bayer designed to maximize the companies' pharmaceutical resources while maintaining each company's own strategic interests.

13 Sep 2004

Potential new drug for the treatment of sickle cell disease

The results were published in the June 2004 issue of The British Journal of Haematology (BJH). MX-1520 is a prodrug of vanillin, a very popular food additive generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the FDA.

13 Sep 2004

Growing global threat from avian influenza

"Unless intensive efforts are made, a pandemic is very likely to occur," Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, told a news conference in Shanghai.

13 Sep 2004

Inhaled nitrite spray may help babies diagnosed with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center and the Loma Linda University School of Medicine have found that use of an inhaled nitrite spray may help babies diagnosed with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).

13 Sep 2004

500 WTC recovery workers and volunteers have new and persistent respiratory problems

Nearly half of more than 1,000 screened rescue and recovery workers and volunteers who responded to the World Trade Center attacks have new and persistent respiratory problems

12 Sep 2004

Discovery of way to regulate brain blood could lead to new treatments for stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s

There may be new treatments for stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders, thanks to the discovery of a mechanism for regulating brain blood flow made by researchers at the University of British Columbia.

10 Sep 2004

Influenza associated hospitalizations among elderly patients has increased substantially over the past two decades

The estimated number of influenza-associated hospitalizations among elderly patients has increased substantially over the past two decades, according to an article in the September 15 issue of JAMA.

10 Sep 2004

Tonsil removal has no major benefits over watchful waiting in children with throat infections or enlarged tonsils and adenoids

Effectiveness of adenotonsillectomy in children with mild symptoms of throat infections or adenotonsillar hypertrophy: open, randomised controlled trial, BMJ Online First.

9 Sep 2004

Growing up in polluted towns and cities increases risk of lung health issues

Children who grow up in towns and cities with high pollution levels are at increased risk of lung health issues or low functioning lungs. New research suggests that pollutants from vehicle emissions and fossil fuels have an adverse effect on a child's lung development and can also lower childrens lifetime breathing capacity.

8 Sep 2004

Researchers keep milk free of contaminants

Dairy farms in the United States produced more than 170 billion pounds of milk last year. The more than 9 million cows that produced that milk occasionally need to be treated for various ailments

8 Sep 2004

Sinovac completes dosing in phase 1 human clinical testing of SARS vaccine

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. has announced that all 36 subjects of the Phase I human clinical trial for its inactivated SARS vaccine have now been vaccinated with two doses of either SARS vaccine or placebo.

7 Sep 2004

Australia's sunshine state becomes smoke free state

The Australian Medical Association President, Dr Bill Glasson, today congratulated the Queensland Government on being the first Australian State to introduce and implement comprehensive smoking bans in all public places.

6 Sep 2004

New multilingual chronic obstructive pulmonary disease website

The European Respiratory Society has launched a new multilingual website specifically targeted at patients with chronic bronchitis, emphysema or other “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” (COPD), group of conditions in which the patient has an expiratory airflow obstruction that causes air to become trapped in the lung and limit the ability to exhale.

5 Sep 2004

Air conditioning coil reduces over all sickness by 20%

Air conditioning coil reduces over all sickness by 20%, reduces respiratory symptoms by 40% and has resulted in a 99% reduction of microbial and endotoxin concentrations on irradiated surfaces within the ventilation system.

5 Sep 2004

Widely used antimalarial drug exhibits antiviral activity against the SARS

Virologists from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium report that chloroquine, a widely used antimalarial drug, exhibits antiviral activity against the SARS coronavirus. Chloroquine is an inexpensive and safe drug available worldwide.

5 Sep 2004

U.S $10 million to build virtual lung

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will lead a $10 million, five-year multi-institutional National Institutes of Health study to devise 3-D imaging and computational models of unsurpassed detail of respiratory systems in humans and other mammals, PNNL announced today.

30 Aug 2004

Asthma stable, allergies rising in British children

The rate of asthma among children in the United Kingdom seems to have stabilised, but the tendency for children to develop allergies is still increasing, according to a study in this week's BMJ.

26 Aug 2004