by Adam Pope, University of Alabama at Birmingham New research from scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that beta-blockers used in a clinical trial for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease do not reduce the risk of flare-ups of the disease, also called...
Tag: <span>COPD</span>
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Has Your Doctor Talked To You About Climate Change?
When Michael Howard arrives for a checkup with his lung specialist, he’s worried about how his body will cope with the heat and humidity of a Boston summer. “I lived in Florida for 14 years and I moved back because the humidity was just too much,” Howard tells pulmonologist Mary Rice, as he settles into an...
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Making Bacterial Infections a Thing of the Past for Chronic Respiratory Conditions
Sponsored Content by Neem Biotech How much of a problem are respiratory infections in chronic conditions such as cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis and COPD? In cystic fibrosis, COPD and people with bronchiectasis, there is a chronic infection that we know now is quite complex and is made up of communities of different species of microbiota; not just bacteria, but also fungi and viruses. It is...
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Study supports optimal threshold for diagnosing COPD
by National Institutes of Health A new study provides evidence to support a simple measurement for diagnosing clinically significant airflow obstruction, the key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. The study found that a 70% ratio of two indicators of lung function proved as or more accurate than other thresholds for...
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New risk scores help physicians provide better care for high-risk pulmonary patients, study finds
INTERMOUNTAIN MEDICAL CENTER A new laboratory-based method of estimating outcomes for patients with a severe pulmonary disorder that has no cure can help physicians better provide proper care, referrals, and services for patients at the end of life, according to a new study of more than 17,000 patients from Intermountain Healthcare. The Laboratory-based Intermountain Validated Exacerbation (LIVE) score is a prediction model that predicts all-cause mortality, morbidity, and hospitalization rates for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),...
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COPD may strike women harder than men
by Steven Reinberg, Healthday Reporter Smoking is its leading cause, and while women report smoking less than men, those with COPD have more trouble breathing, more frequent flare-ups and a poorer quality of life, researchers found. “Physicians need to be aware that symptoms for women may be worse for a given level of lung function and that exacerbations may be more frequent,”...
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Azithromycin appears to reduce treatment failure in severe, acute COPD exacerbations
AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY May 3, 2019–The antibiotic azithromycin may reduce treatment failure in patients hospitalized for an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), according to a randomized, controlled trial published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. In “Azithromycin during Acute COPD Exacerbations Requiring Hospitalization (BACE): a Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial,” researchers in...
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Common lung conditions linked to heart disease
Patients with some of the most common lung diseases are substantially more likely to suffer a heart attack and develop other major heart problems according to new research. The team of heart and lung doctors from the University of Manchester and Aston Medical School found people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung fibrosis, were more likely to develop, and die from, heart disease and heart failure. The study of nearly 100,000 people with lung disease in...
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Non-invasive imaging technique valid for identifying small airway disease in lung
Discovery holds promise for developing urgently needed new therapies in COPD MICHIGAN MEDICINE – UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory disease of the small airways in the lungs, affects 16 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Identifying small airway disease in its earliest stages, when it...
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Raising awareness of lung cancer risk in people with COPD
During this unique study, led by the University of Glasgow and University of Surrey, researchers investigated how the experience of COPD, influences how individuals understand new or changing chest symptoms and their decision to seek help from medical professionals. COPD is the name for a group of lung conditions, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which...