Lungs News and Research

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New cancer treatment stops aggressive sarcomas

After all standard treatments had failed, a new cancer treatment has stopped the growth of aggressive sarcomas in two recent patients. These results are similar to the new protocol's previous success against several cancers, including melanoma, pancreatic, colon, mesothelioma and other sarcomas.

25 Feb 2009

Smoking behavior partially explains socioeconomic inequities in lung cancer incidence

Europeans with the least education have a higher incidence of lung cancer compared with those with the highest education.

24 Feb 2009

Discovery of 'obesity gene' involved in weight gain response to high-fat diet

Scientists have determined that a specific gene plays a role in the weight-gain response to a high-fat diet.

24 Feb 2009

Low to moderate alcohol consumption among women associated with increased cancer risk

Low to moderate alcohol consumption among women is associated with a statistically significant increase in cancer risk and may account for nearly 13 percent of the cancers of the breast, liver, rectum, and upper aero-digestive tract combined, according to a report in the February 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

24 Feb 2009

Putting a face on influenza

Influenza results in billions of dollars in lost wages every year, and recent studies found that an estimated 75 million missed workdays a year, and about 200 million days of restricted activity, are due to this vaccine-preventable disease.

24 Feb 2009

European Society of Cardiology reaffirms advice on cardiovascular risks associated with long-haul flights

Following a review by The Lancet of the medical issues associated with commercial air travel, the European Society of Cardiology has reaffirmed its advice about the risks of venous thromboembolism (VTE), whose risk, according to The Lancet, is increased "up to four-fold" by long-haul flight.

24 Feb 2009

Vitamin D may help fight common colds

Vitamin D may be an important way to arm the immune system against disorders like the common cold, report investigators from the University of Colorado Denver (UC Denver) School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Children's Hospital Boston.

23 Feb 2009

Babies born in pollen and mold seasons have increased likelihood of wheezing by age two

Newborns whose first few months of life coincide with high pollen and mold seasons are at increased risk of developing early symptoms of asthma, suggests a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

23 Feb 2009

Statins can stimulate cardiac muscle cell regeneration, improve heart function

Statins, used widely to treat elevated cholesterol, have been shown to prevent progression of coronary narrowing and to have other beneficial effects on the heart, such as reducing inflammation, that are independent of cholesterol.

23 Feb 2009

New prognostic indicator for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

There may be a new way to predict mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a devastating disease that slowly petrifies the lungs.

22 Feb 2009

B-cell clones as early markers for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Testing of blood specimens may detect abnormal white blood cells in patients years before the chronic form of lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) develops, according to research published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

22 Feb 2009

Toenail clippings reveal environmental arsenic exposure

Scientists from Leicester and Nottingham have devised a method for identifying levels of exposure to environmental arsenic - by testing toenail clippings.

22 Feb 2009

Stenting not necessary in late treatment of heart attacks

Two years ago, a major study found that many patients who receive delayed treatment for a heart attack do just as well with drugs alone as they do with drugs plus stents to prop open their blocked arteries.

20 Feb 2009

Optimizing dosage of blood-thinning drug warfarin

In a large-scale study and an upcoming clinical trial, scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health address one of the trickiest issues in prescribing medicine - how to quickly optimize each patient's dosage of the common blood-thinning drug warfarin.

20 Feb 2009

Cancer death rates fall among African Americans - survival rates still low

While death rates from cancer continue to drop among African Americans, the group continues to be diagnosed at more advanced stages and have lower survival rates at each stage of diagnosis compared to whites for most cancer sites.

20 Feb 2009

Blood pressure drug losartan may benefit brain tumor patients

A widely used blood pressure medication may be the key to preventing brain function loss common after radiation treatment, according to a newly published study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

20 Feb 2009

Experts predict 20 per cent drop in lung cancer rate

Cancer Reserach UK experts are predicting that lung cancer rates will drop by nearly a fifth over the next 20 years, according to new figures.

18 Feb 2009

Weight loss improves nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

In a recent study, Saint Louis University researchers found that weight loss of at least 9 percent helped patients reverse a type of liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a finding that will allow doctors to give patients specific weight-loss goals that are likely to improve their livers.

17 Feb 2009

Hormone aldosterone linked to high blood pressure and blood vessel disease in African Americans

Researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have linked higher levels of the hormone aldosterone to high blood pressure and blood vessel disease in African Americans.

17 Feb 2009

Doctors' resources for off-label prescribing may be incomplete, unclear

The resources doctors use to get important information about indications and reimbursement for use of cancer drugs off-label may be out-of-date and incomplete, according to a study led by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

16 Feb 2009