http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A small piece of RNA appears to play a big role in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to lung disease researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study, which is the first to examine microRNAs in the disease, is available online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. http://phys.org/news191741637.html Medicine & Health Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:34:12 EST news191741637 Among the general U.S. population, people who are uninsured are about half as likely to receive critical care services as those with insurance, according to systematic review of the literature by the American Thoracic Society's Health Disparities Group. They also found that once admitted to the hospital intensive care unit, uninsured patients are less likely to have invasive procedures or pulmonary artery catheterizations and more likely to have life support withdrawn. http://phys.org/news191682208.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:04:26 EST news191682208 Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of stroke in middle-aged and older adults, especially men, according to new results from a landmark study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Overall, sleep apnea more than doubles the risk of stroke in men. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder in which the upper airway is intermittently narrowed or blocked, disrupting sleep and breathing during sleep. http://phys.org/news189919816.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:40:01 EST news189919816 A study of nearly 13,000 rescue workers from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) shows that the significant proportion who suffered acute lung damage after exposure to World Trade Center (WTC) dust have not recovered normal lung function in the years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. http://phys.org/news189879591.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:30:03 EST news189879591 The ATS has released an official policy statement of pay-for-performance (P4P) in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. In the statement, the Society encourages clinicians in these fields to participate in P4P programs and views them as an opportunity to partner with healthcare payors, accrediting organizations, governmental oversight groups and others to improve quality, rather than as a threat to autonomy and independence. http://phys.org/news188654907.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:30:01 EST news188654907 Researchers in Australia have demonstrated that blocking a certain protein can reduce or prevent cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in mice. Inflammation underlies the disease process of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and many other smoking-related ailments. http://phys.org/news188119307.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:50:01 EST news188119307 Stress during pregnancy may raise the risk of asthma in offspring, according to researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. The researchers investigated differences in immune function markers in cord blood between infants born to mothers in high stress environments and those born to mothers with lower stress and found marked differences in patterns that may be associated with asthma risk later in life. http://phys.org/news188119148.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:19:30 EST news188119148 A booster shot appears to improve tuberculosis (TB) resistance in previously vaccinated adults, according to new research in South Africa. http://phys.org/news187966866.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:02:07 EST news187966866 The American Thoracic Society has released a new official clinical policy statement on congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS), a disorder of respiratory and autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation. The ANS regulates reflexive acts, including heart rate and blood pressure, digestion, body temperature and pain perception. http://phys.org/news187618492.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:20:54 EST news187618492 Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that it is cost-effective to do CT scan screening of non-smoking women, ages 25-54, who come to the emergency room for the first time with a collapsed lung in order to diagnose and treat those with lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM. http://phys.org/news186901854.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:50:02 EST news186901854 Researchers have demonstrated the safety of a potential vaccine against mesothelioma, a rare cancer associated primarily with asbestos exposure. The vaccine, which infuses uses a patient's own dendritic cells (DC) with antigen from the patient's tumor, was able to induce a T-cell response against mesothelioma tumors. http://phys.org/news186901741.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:09:27 EST news186901741 Patients hospitalized with mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) should not be routinely prescribed prednisolone, a corticosteroid, as it is associated with a recurrence of symptoms after its withdrawal, according to the first randomized double-blind clinical trial to address the subject. http://phys.org/news186144494.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:48:36 EST news186144494 The ATS and the European Respiratory Society have issued official standards for the quantitative assessment of lung structure. http://phys.org/news185630178.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:56:55 EST news185630178 Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) adversely affects glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago. http://phys.org/news182694077.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:21:53 EST news182694077 Older adults with long-term exposure to higher levels of pollution are at higher risk for hospitalization for pneumonia, according to researchers in Canada. http://phys.org/news180768309.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:40:02 EST news180768309 Brazilian researchers have performed the first-ever autopsy study to examine the precise causes of death in victims of the H1N1 swine flu. http://phys.org/news180767608.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:20:05 EST news180767608 A new study links chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, with increased activity of cells that act as sentinels to activate the body's immune system. http://phys.org/news180104163.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:57:55 EST news180104163 Researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered a technique that is able to determine whether a child has obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or habitual snoring by screening their urine. http://phys.org/news179379621.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:00:01 EST news179379621 Asthmatic smokers may be able to reverse some of the damage to their lungs that exacerbates asthmatic symptoms just by putting down their cigarettes, according to research out of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. http://phys.org/news179379532.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:50:01 EST news179379532 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have discovered a possible way to protect the fragile lungs of premature babies by using stem cells harvested from bone marrow. In experiments on laboratory mice, they found that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), a type of stem cell with the potential to form lung cells, were able to reduce inflammation in lung tissue. Inflammation is the key factor that leads to chronic lung disease in premature babies. Surprisingly, even the fluid in which the cells were grown was able to protect the lungs - in fact, better than the stem cells themselves. http://phys.org/news178914016.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:40:02 EST news178914016 New research presents strong evidence that the "synergistic" effect of early-life exposure to both outdoor traffic-related pollution and indoor endotoxin causes more harm to developing lungs than one or the other exposure alone. http://phys.org/news178266956.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:40:01 EST news178266956 Exposure shortly after birth to ambient metals from residential heating oil combustion and particles from diesel emissions are associated with respiratory symptoms in young inner city children, according to a new study by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The study is the first to analyze the effects of exposure to airborne metals in this very young population and the findings could have important public health implications. http://phys.org/news178204336.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:50:02 EST news178204336 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have revealed how environmental irritants such as air pollution and cigarette smoke cause people to cough, in research published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and the University of Hull, have identified the reaction inside the lungs that can trigger coughing when a person is exposed to particular irritants in the air. They suggest that their findings may ultimately lead to the development of new treatments for chronic coughing. http://phys.org/news178200419.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:07:45 EST news178200419 Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, according to a new study. http://phys.org/news176702980.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:40:01 EST news176702980 Difficult-to-treat asthma often may have more to do with patients who do not take their medication as instructed than ineffective medication, according to researchers in Northern Ireland. http://phys.org/news175500957.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:30:02 EST news175500957 Patients who die in the hospital in the United States are almost five times as likely to have spent part of their last hospital stay in the ICU than patients in England. What's more, over the age of 85, ICU usage among terminal patients is eight times higher in the U.S. than in England, according to new research from Columbia University that compared the two countries' use of intensive care services during final hospitalizations. http://phys.org/news175500904.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:15:40 EST news175500904 Overweight individuals are not just at greater risk of having sleep-disordered-breathing (SDB), they are also likely to suffer greater consequences, according to new research. http://phys.org/news174197302.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:30:01 EST news174197302 Active tuberculosis can be rapidly identified in patients with negative sputum tests by a new method, according to European researchers. Active tuberculosis (TB) is the seventh-leading cause of death worldwide, and while the diagnosis of active TB can be rapidly established when the bacteria can be identified on sputum microscopy, in about half of all cases, the TB bacterium cannot be detected, making another diagnostic option critical in efforts to control the spread of TB. http://phys.org/news172909167.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:50:03 EST news172909167 Women in Central Mexico who used a vented stove instead of the traditional indoor open fire, experienced improved respiratory health on par with a pack-a-day smoker kicking the habit, according to a recent study. http://phys.org/news172909071.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:40:01 EST news172909071 New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking. While young children in daycare definitely do get more illnesses and experience more respiratory symptoms as a result, any perceived protection these exposures afford against asthma and allergy seem to disappear by the time the child hits the age of eight. http://phys.org/news171607564.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:49:33 EST news171607564