Lungs News and Research

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Novel assays provide new insight into why patients are in heart failure

A failing heart makes a lot of a hormone needed to eliminate the excess salt and water bloating the body but not enough of the enzyme needed to activate it, researchers say.

1 Apr 2009

Heart burn surgery reverses chronic rejection in transplant patient

Acid reflux is thought to be - at most - an irritating condition easily controlled with medication, diet and weight loss.

1 Apr 2009

Discovery of new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, have identified a new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens.

30 Mar 2009

Improving cancer therapy achieved through taste, odor intervention

Cancer and its therapies, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, may directly alter and damage taste and odor perception, possibly leading to patient malnutrition, and in severe cases, significant morbidity, according to a Virginia Tech - Wake Forest University Comprehensive Cancer Center compilation of various existing studies.

30 Mar 2009

Environment plays role in hypoplastic left heart syndrome

A congenital heart disease that often leads to death in newborns is significantly more common during the summer, leading researchers to believe that the environment, and not just genes that affect the heart, may play a role in causing "mini-epidemics" of this disease.

30 Mar 2009

Researchers find direct link between oxidative stress and inflammatory signals in the blood

The finding could lead to improved strategies for preventing several diseases by including antioxidants in the diet and for reducing the impact of inflammation in critically ill patients by adding cysteine to intravenous or tube feeding.

30 Mar 2009

Slow-growing tuberculosis bacteria point the way to new drug development

The discovery of a large number of slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause tuberculosis (TB), in the lungs of TB patients could be an important step forward in the design of new anti-TB drugs.

30 Mar 2009

Discovery of new tumor suppressor gene

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have identified a gene that suppresses tumor growth in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

30 Mar 2009

Corthera's Relaxin in acute heart failure shows promising results

Corthera Inc. has announced that results from Pre-RELAX-AHF, the Phase II portion of a Phase II/III multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled international study, demonstrated promising efficacy and safety for relaxin, the company's investigational drug for treatment of acute heart failure (AHF).

30 Mar 2009

New tool in the radiography approach will assist in earlier detection of asbestos-related diseases

Michael Harbut, M.D., MPH, co-director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers (NCVAC) at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI, and chief of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine Wayne State University, announced the use of a new technology to aid in the diagnosis of asbestos-related lung disease.

30 Mar 2009

New Lantheus study finds significant survival benefit for critically ill patients undergoing contrast-enhanced echocardiography

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc has announced new data regarding the use of DEFINITY Vial For (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension.

29 Mar 2009

Enzyme and vitamin define the yin and yang of asthma

The allergen breathed in by a person with asthma triggers a proteinase or enzyme called MMP7 that activates a cascade of events to prompt an allergic reaction, said a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Immunology.

29 Mar 2009

ARCA biopharma presents data from phase 3 BEST trial of Gencaro

ARCA biopharma, Inc. has announced that data from the pivotal Phase 3 BEST trial of Gencaro (bucindolol hydrochloride) in patients with advanced chronic heart failure (CHF) was presented at the American College of Cardiology 58 th Annual Scientific Session being held March 29-31, 2009 in Orlando, Florida.

29 Mar 2009

CRESTOR (rosuvastatin) shown to significantly reduce risk of venous thromboembolism

A new analysis from the JUPITER study shows that CRESTOR (rosuvastatin) 20mg significantly cut the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) by 43% (p=0.007) compared to placebo among men and women with low to normal cholesterol levels and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).

29 Mar 2009

Researchers look at how the host reacts to a flu virus infection

"Where there are many scientific works dealing solely with the flu virus, we have investigated how the host reacts to an infection," says Klaus Schughart, head of the Experimental Mouse Genetics research group.

29 Mar 2009

Mylan confirms four first-to-file challenges

Mylan Inc. has announced that it and/or a subsidiary have been sued in connection with four separate "first-to-file" Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA) filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

29 Mar 2009

Genetic variations may determine lung function and susceptibility to maternal smoking

A tiny variation within a single gene can determine not only how quickly and well lungs grow and function in children and adolescents, but how susceptible those children will be to exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, even in utero, according to researchers from the University of Southern California.

29 Mar 2009

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-related problems hard to swallow

Patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit a disordered breathing-swallowing pattern that may account for their higher risk of aspiration pneumonia, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh.

29 Mar 2009

Mutations in a gene may stunt lung development in children

Mutations in a gene may cause poor lung development in children, making them more vulnerable to diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) later in life, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and the German Research Center for Environmental Health.

29 Mar 2009

Updated heart failure guidelines focus on key research findings, clinical advances

Updated guidelines on the diagnosis and management of heart failure will help physicians incorporate the latest research findings into the treatment of patients with this complex and disabling disease.

29 Mar 2009