Lungs News and Research

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Helium-based MRI scans may one day allow closer look at smoker lungs

Aided by a powerful imaging technique, scientists have discovered they can detect smoking-related lung damage in healthy smokers who otherwise display none of the telltale signs of tobacco use.

5 Jun 2006

New data show Enzastaurin's activity across multiple cancer cell lines

Eli Lilly and Company's enzastaurin, an investigational, multi-targeted therapy that is currently the focus of two global Phase III clinical trials, one for the treatment of glioblastoma and one in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

5 Jun 2006

UK's first 'beating heart' transplant a success

Surgeons in the UK have successfully kept a human heart alive and beating outside the body, before it was transplanted into a patient.

4 Jun 2006

"Smart bomb" cancer therapy combo effective

Experts have more good news on the breast cancer front; they say they by using a combination of therapies it may be possible to extend the lives of thousands of women with advanced breast cancer.

4 Jun 2006

Experimental treatment increases response rates in advanced lung cancer

An early phase study pairing an experimental targeted therapy with a common anti-inflammatory produced promising results in patients with advanced lung cancer, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center reported.

1 Jun 2006

More smokers roll their own under the delusion they are safer

According to a survey of 1,000 smokers in the UK one in four smokers believe that hand-rolled tobacco presents less risk to health than manufactured cigarettes.

31 May 2006

Canadians get tough with smokers

Today, May 31, 2006, the new Smoke Free Ontario legislation came into effect in Canada.

31 May 2006

Evidence indicates rising use of non-cigarette tobacco products among youth, especially girls

The World Health Organization is urging governments to broaden tobacco control efforts in view of the rapid spread and growing variety of smoked and smokeless tobacco products, and increasing use of these products by young people who may be unaware of their harmful effects.

30 May 2006

Spacers versus nebulisers for treatment of acute asthma

Two treatment methods for asthma attacks - spacers and nebulizers - are equally effective in staving off hospital admissions, a new review shows. However, at least for children, spacers mean shorter stays in emergency departments.

29 May 2006

Heavy marijuana use not linked to lung cancer

Despite popular belief, a new study shows that people who smoke marijuana do not appear to be at increased risk of developing lung cancer.

24 May 2006

Research could lead to new treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have identified biochemical signals that attract pathogenic cells to damaged lung tissue - one of the first steps in a chain of events leading to a lethal disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or IPF.

23 May 2006

Pollution increases risks in people with diabetes, heart failure and other diseases

People with diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of death when they are exposed to particulate air pollution, or soot, for one or more years.

23 May 2006

Women who pile on the kilos more at risk of breast cancers

According to a large new study women who pile on the kilos as adults increase their risk of all types of breast cancer even if they do not take hormone replacement therapy after menopause.

23 May 2006

Women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease fare worse than men

Women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) fare worse than men both in terms of the severity of their disease and their quality of life, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 22nd.

23 May 2006

Lung cancer death rates in lifelong non-smokers

Lung cancer death rates are not higher among women than men who have never smoked, but death rates from lung cancer may be higher in African-American than Caucasian female never smokers, a study reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

23 May 2006

Level of selenium-containing proteins in the body instrumental in preventing cancer

Selenium, an essential dietary mineral that can act as an antioxidant when incorporated into proteins, has been shown in many studies to reduce the incidence of cancers -- notably lung, colorectal and prostate.

23 May 2006

Environmental tobacco smoke drastically increases an infant's risk for developing allergic rhinitis

University of Cincinnati (UC) epidemiologists say it's environmental tobacco smoke--not the suspected visible mold--that drastically increases an infant's risk for developing allergic rhinitis by age 1.

17 May 2006

Novel animal model of lung adenocarcinoma

Drs. Katerina Politi, Harold Varmus and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have developed a novel animal model of lung adenocarcinoma that will be of great use in testing the efficacy of targeted therapies against human lung cancer.

17 May 2006

Panel calls for expanded oversight of vitamin and mineral supplements

An independent panel convened this week by the NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research and the Office of Dietary Supplements assessed the available evidence on the safety and effectiveness of multivitamin/minerals (MVMs).

17 May 2006

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 2 may play role in infection and dry eye

Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type 2 (PAI-2), a protein found in various cell types including the skin, has been discovered in the tissue covering the eye and may have future clinical implications in various pathologies of the ocular surface such as eye infection or dry eye.

17 May 2006