Emphysema News and Research

Latest Emphysema News and Research

Why smokers lung is resistant to steroid treatment

UK researchers think they are close to finding the first effective treatment to fight one of the biggest killer diseases in the UK. Professor Peter Barnes will present the work at the British Endocrine Societies 2005 meeting in Harrogate.

4 Apr 2005

Lung cancer rates among men are on the decline

Results of the most comprehensive analysis to date of the impact of gender differences in lung cancer incidence in the United States indicate that lung cancer rates among men are on the decline, while the rate in women remains steady.

8 Mar 2005

Diesel engines are posing a serious threat to public health

Air particles emitted mainly by diesel engines are posing a serious threat to public health, warn respiratory physiotherapists in a new report published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

1 Mar 2005

Scientists examine the role of small sputum macrophages in the widespread disease chronic obstructive bronchitis

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is one of the most common fatal diseases worldwide. In Germany alone, there are about 3-5 million patients affected. COPD includes both chronic obstructive bronchitis and emphysema. Both represent irreversible changes of the central and lower respiratory tract which are accompanied by coughing, mucus production and difficulty in breathing.

10 Jan 2005

Write to your MPs, BMA tells doctors

BMA Cymru Wales is calling on doctors across Wales to write to their members of parliament to support a ban on smoking in public places.

22 Dec 2004

Lighter air more than doubles COPD patients’ endurance

It certainly makes sense: COPD sufferers have varying degrees of serious breathing difficulties, which keeps them from almost any kind of exercise, especially in advanced stages. So maybe “lighter than air” air would be easier to breath, reduce shortness of breath and perhaps even allow them to do some exercise with all of its physical and mental benefits.

29 Nov 2004

Nearly two-thirds of smokers are not concerned about developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of smokers are not concerned about developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), America’s fourth ranking cause of death even though more than half of them (55 percent) experience at least one of the symptoms of COPD a minimum of once a week.

18 Nov 2004

Gene protects against environmental pollutants and pulmonary emphysema

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions have identified a “master gene” in mice that controls the action of 50 other genes whose products protect the lungs against environmental pollutants.

17 Nov 2004

Gene found to defend against environmental pollutants and pulmonary emphysema

1 Nov 2004

Each year, between 25 million and 50 million Americans will suffer with the flu

Each year, between 25 million and 50 million Americans will suffer with the fever, chills, body aches and upper respiratory problems brought on by viral influenza, better known as the flu.

30 Sep 2004

Master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have identified a master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant takes. The findings could have implications for treating premature babies and children and adults with lung disease or lung injury.

28 Sep 2004

Poverty not linked to winter deaths in elderly

Although Britain has a large burden of excess winter deaths, this study suggests that policies to relieve fuel poverty alone may only be partially successful.

17 Sep 2004

New multilingual chronic obstructive pulmonary disease website

The European Respiratory Society has launched a new multilingual website specifically targeted at patients with chronic bronchitis, emphysema or other “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” (COPD), group of conditions in which the patient has an expiratory airflow obstruction that causes air to become trapped in the lung and limit the ability to exhale.

5 Sep 2004

Scientists have discovered a protein that could be the key to finding a cure for asthma

Scientists at the University's Department of Pharmacology and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research have discovered a protein produced in human lung cells that could be the key to finding a cure for asthma.

25 Aug 2004

One of the largest causes of death and disability worldwide

A new series of 5 seminars about one of the largest causes of death and disability worldwide - COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) - starts in this week’s issue of the Lancet.

15 Aug 2004

New test to help detect and treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Australian doctors are pioneering a new test to help detect and treat one of the world's biggest killers - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

20 Jul 2004

Adults with asthma may have an increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

According to a 20-year study published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), patients with asthma were 12 times more likely than nonasthmatics to develop COPD later in life.

13 Jul 2004

Heavy drinking during teenage years begins taking a serious health toll by the time people are 24 years old

A University of Washington study has found that people who began binge drinking at age 13 and continued throughout adolescence were nearly four times as likely to be overweight or obese and almost 3½ times as likely to have high blood pressure when they were 24 years old

9 Jul 2004

Australia will have some of the most graphic tobacco health warnings in the world

Explicit graphic warnings on cigarette packs and other tobacco products will be introduced as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to improving the health of all Australians by alerting consumers to the dangers of smoking.

25 Jun 2004

FDA seeks public comment on albuterol metered dose inhalers containing ozone-depleting propellants

FDA put on display today a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on a proposal for withdrawing "essential-use" status for albuterol metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) using chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants.

12 Jun 2004