Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease News and Research

Latest Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease News and Research

Exposure to tobacco smoke causes immediate damage leading to serious illness or death

Exposure to tobacco smoke - even occasional smoking or secondhand smoke - causes immediate damage to your body that can lead to serious illness or death, according to a report released today by U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin. The comprehensive scientific report - Benjamin's first Surgeon General's report and the 30th tobacco-related Surgeon General's report issued since 1964 - describes specific pathways by which tobacco smoke damages the human body and leads to disease and death.

10 Dec 2010

AMGA, AMGF announce grantees in COPD Best Practices Learning Collaborative

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and the American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) today announced recipients of grants for quality improvement initiatives focusing on care management for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Recipients are medical groups, IPAs, academic practices, and integrated delivery systems that responded to a request for proposals distributed in August 2010.

8 Dec 2010

Study examines impact of poor care coordination on quality, cost of care in America

Many Americans seek medical treatment from a variety of care providers and often must play the role of informing each doctor what the others are recommending or prescribing. This fragmented experience of poorly coordinated care is due in part to a lack of consistent systems and processes in place to coordinate care across providers and facilities.

8 Dec 2010

Appropriate level of Static Magnetic Field exposure for wound patients needs to be considered

The interest in the biological effects of non-ionizing Electro Magnetic Fields (EMFs) and Static Magnetic Fields (SMFs) on the whole organism, as well on cellular systems, has noticeably increased in recent years in consideration of their increased production (from the generation and transmission of electricity, to domestic appliances and industrial equipment, to telecommunications and broadcasting) and the possible health risk for humans.

4 Dec 2010

NHS to develop new treatment options for patients with lung disease

Scientists and clinicians in Nottingham are to work more closely with industry to develop new ways of diagnosing and treating lung disease.

2 Dec 2010

Canadians at increased risk for flu complications not aware of all the facts

It starts with a headache, chills or that all-over-achy feeling. It comes on quickly, yet too many Canadians ignore the rapid onset of flu symptoms. But for the millions of Canadians at increased risk for developing serious complications from the flu, including people 65 and older, pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, heart disease and diabetes, this 'laissez faire' attitude could be putting their health in jeopardy.

30 Nov 2010

Innovative new roles and occupations in health sector of the future

Innovative new roles and occupations that could possibly emerge in the health sector of the future are explored in a new working paper published today by Skills for Health.

23 Nov 2010

Abnormal levels of circulating auto-antibodies found in blood of COPD patients

Moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be an auto-immunity problem, according to researchers in Spain, who studied the presence of auto-antibodies in patients with COPD and compared them to levels of control subjects. They found that a significant number of patients with COPD had significant levels of auto-antibodies circulating in their blood, about 5 to 10 times the level in controls.

20 Nov 2010

COPD both a burden and a loss

Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, revealed that they perceive their disease as both a burden they must deal with and as a loss they have experienced, according to recent in-home research conducted by GlaxoSmithKline. Patients participating in the research characterized their sense of loss as a combination of factors including loss of energy, loss of control, loss of independence and loss of their old self.

18 Nov 2010

COPD Biomarkers Qualification Consortium launched

The COPD Foundation announces the launch of an unprecedented collaborative effort to pool information on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): the COPD Biomarkers Qualification Consortium (CBQC). The CBQC brings together government agencies, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies that will share research data on COPD biomarkers—indicators of disease progression/severity.

18 Nov 2010

Medical Acoustics receives UB CAT/NYSTAR grant

Medical Acoustics LLC, a commercial-stage medical device company which employs acoustic technologies for diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications, today announced that it has been awarded a UB CAT/NYSTAR grant.

16 Nov 2010

Study finds two-thirds of asthma patients take combined ICS/LABA treatment

Despite national guidelines recommending that inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) be used alone as the preferred treatment for patients with mild persistent asthma, a new study finds that nearly two-thirds of these patients are taking more costly drugs that combine an ICS and a long-acting beta agonist (LABA) with no apparent additional clinical benefit noted based on pharmacy and medical claims.

16 Nov 2010

Science and precedent do not support biosimilar approach for plasma protein therapies

The current science and experience does not support the safety and efficaciousness of a biosimilar pathway for plasma protein therapies. At a public hearing last week, the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA) urged the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make patient safety its top priority by adopting a global approach in its evaluation of plasma protein therapies for the biosimilars process.

15 Nov 2010

Plant-based respiratory allergies on the rise due to climate change

Bad news for 35 million allergy sufferers - ragweed, fungal spores and poison ivy are thriving due to rising carbon dioxide levels. At the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Phoenix, Nov. 11-16, allergists and scientists discussed the effects of rising CO2 levels and a changing climate on plant biology and public health.

12 Nov 2010

NHLBI launches new campaign to highlight common COPD symptoms

The number of Americans who report being aware of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, increased by 4 percentage points between 2008 and 2010, but many people at risk are still unaware of the disease, according to mailed survey results released today by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

10 Nov 2010

Immense potential for digitized personal health records in chronic disease management

Faster and more widely available internet access has improved our lives in many ways but healthcare is lagging behind, according to researchers writing in the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

3 Nov 2010

New REACT medical trial for early diagnosis of lung cancer

Physicians at El Camino Hospital are starting a medical trial called REACT that they hope may give doctors a new and cost-effective tool for early diagnosis of lung cancer, the deadliest of the common cancers.

2 Nov 2010

Study finds inhaled corticosteroids increase type 2 diabetes risk

Patients taking inhaled corticosteroids are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and more so with higher doses, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital's Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) In Montreal. The risk is of special concern for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and much less significant for asthmatics.

2 Nov 2010

FDA grants Clinical Data's PRX-8066 Orphan Drug Designation for pulmonary arterial hypertension

Clinical Data, Inc. today announced that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to PRX-8066, the Company's selective serotonin 2B (5-HT2B) receptor antagonist.

1 Nov 2010

University of Maryland to establish major research enterprise for autoimmune diseases

With a new $45 million private gift from the family of a grateful patient, the University of Maryland School of Medicine is planning to establish the nation's only major research enterprise devoted to the study of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and Type 1 diabetes. The gift, from Indiana couple Ken and Shelia Cafferty, is the largest private donation in the history of the University System of Maryland.

29 Oct 2010