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Asthma experts united to tackle Europe's high asthma prevalence and death rates

Asthma experts from across Europe are uniting as part of a new partnership launched this week to tackle Europe's high asthma prevalence and death rates.

12 Sep 2013

Drug can be delivered safely to people with COPD in both "mist" and "dry powder" inhalers, say experts

An international study led by a Johns Hopkins pulmonary expert finds that the drug tiotropium (marketed as the Spiriva brand), can be delivered safely and effectively to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in both "mist" and traditional "dry powder" inhalers.

10 Sep 2013

New study reveals damaging effects of road-side pollution in people with bronchiectasis

Living close to a busy road is associated with a higher risk of death in people with bronchiectasis.

10 Sep 2013

Worsening air pollution could increase annual premature deaths in 21st century

This century, climate change is expected to induce changes in air pollution, exposure to which could increase annual premature deaths by more than 100,000 adults worldwide.

5 Sep 2013

Low temperature triggers acute myocardial infarction

Professor Claeys said: "Air pollution and temperature changes are the most frequently reported environmental triggers for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Epidemiologic studies have focused mainly on one environmental condition, but most environmental triggers are related to each other and may attenuate or reinforce the triggering effect of a single environmental factor."

2 Sep 2013

Almost 80% of air pollution comes from city traffic and other fossil-fuel combustion

Almost 80 percent of air pollution involving soot that spreads from China over large areas of East Asia - impacting human health and fostering global warming - comes from city traffic and other forms of fossil-fuel combustion, such as home cooking with coal briquettes.

22 Aug 2013

Asthma sufferers exposed to heavy traffic pollution or wood smoke experience worse symptoms

Asthma sufferers frequently exposed to heavy traffic pollution or smoke from wood fire heaters, experienced a significant worsening of symptoms, a new University of Melbourne led study has found.

21 Aug 2013

Burning incense generates indoor air pollutants that may cause inflammation in human lung cells

Burning incense, a popular cultural practice in Arabian Gulf countries and elsewhere, generates indoor air pollutants that may cause inflammation in human lung cells, say researchers in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

3 Aug 2013

Breath analysis: Noninvasive way to quickly determine severity of bacterial infections

Breath analysis may prove to be an accurate, noninvasive way to quickly determine the severity of bacterial and other infections, according to a UC Irvine study appearing online today in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

2 Aug 2013

Study: Daily dietary supplementation with blend of omega fatty acids improves severe dry eye

Study findings published online, ahead of print, in Cornea show that daily dietary supplementation with a unique combination of omega fatty acids (GLA, EPA and DHA) for six months is effective in improving ocular irritation symptoms and halting the progression of inflammation that characterizes moderate to severe dry eye.

25 Jul 2013

Vegetation may not protect people from ozone pollution, says new research

During heat waves - when ozone production rises - plants' ozone absorption is curtailed, leaving more pollution in the air, and costing an estimated 460 lives in the UK in the hot summer of 2006.

20 Jul 2013

Short-term exposure to air pollution increases risk of heart failure

Short-term exposure to most major air pollutants appears to increase the risk of being hospitalised for and dying from heart failure, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from 12 countries published in The Lancet.

11 Jul 2013

Prolonged exposure to low levels of air pollution boosts lung cancer risk

Prolonged exposure to particulate air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer (particularly adenocarcinoma) even at levels below the European Union limit values, according to one of the largest studies of its kind published in The Lancet Oncology.

11 Jul 2013

New quasi-experimental research finds major impact of coal emissions on health

A high level of air pollution, in the form of particulates produced by burning coal, significantly shortens the lives of people exposed to it, according to a unique new study of China co-authored by an MIT economist.

9 Jul 2013

Researchers use mobile application to improve asthma outcomes among minority adolescents

Researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL and The University of Illinois at Chicago are using the Internet and motivational multimedia coupled with positive reinforcement via a smartphone application to try to improve asthma outcomes among low-income, minority adolescents with asthma.

27 Jun 2013

Trees are effective tool in reducing air pollution and creating healthier urban environments

In the first effort to estimate the overall impact of a city's urban forest on concentrations of fine particulate pollution (particulate matter less than 2.5 microns, or PM2.5), a U.S. Forest Service and Davey Institute study found that urban trees and forests are saving an average of one life every year per city. In New York City, trees save an average of eight lives every year.

20 Jun 2013

NO2 exposure in infancy is strongly linked with later development of childhood asthma

A research team led by UCSF scientists has found that exposure in infancy to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a component of motor vehicle air pollution, is strongly linked with later development of childhood asthma among African Americans and Latinos.

19 Jun 2013

Pregnant women exposed to high levels of air pollution more likely to have a child with autism

Women in the U.S. exposed to high levels of air pollution while pregnant were up to twice as likely to have a child with autism as women who lived in areas with low pollution, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). It is the first large national study to examine links between autism and air pollution across the U.S.

18 Jun 2013

Air-pollution-removal technology in "self-cleaning" paints may cause more problems than they solve

Research by Indiana University environmental scientists shows that air-pollution-removal technology used in "self-cleaning" paints and building surfaces may actually cause more problems than they solve.

13 Jun 2013

Women are 37% more likely to have COPD than men, says American Lung Association report

Women are 37 percent more likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than men and now account for more than half of all deaths attributed to COPD in our nation.

6 Jun 2013