One day doctors may recommend using high efficiency particle air (HEPA) filters along with weight loss, smoking cessation, and exercise to improve cardiovascular health, according to researchers in Denmark. In a recent study, they found that using HEPA filters for just two days significantly improved a key measure of cardiovascular health in healthy, non-smoking elderly individuals.
New research on farm women has shown that contact with some commonly used pesticides in farm work may increase their risk of allergic asthma.
“Farm women are an understudied occupational group,” said Jane Hoppin, Sc.D., of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and lead author of the study. “More than half the women in our study applied pesticides, but there is very little known about the risks.”
Treatment with ibuprofen is associated with a significantly slower rate of decline in lung function in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis, according to a new study. Researchers found that patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who took high doses of ibuprofen had a 29 percent reduction in loss of lung function compared to those who did not use the anti-inflammatory drug twice daily over a period of two to seven years.
Extremely drug resistant TB, or XDR-TB, is a serious problem in India, according to a new study. The study, the first in India to look at the prevalence of XDR-TB, found this type of TB accounts for 8% of multi-drug-resistant cases, compared with about 4% in the United States.
Women who eat apples and fish during pregnancy may reduce the risk of their children developing asthma or allergic disease, suggests a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference.
Frequent consumption of cured meats results in lower lung function test scores and increases the odds of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a large cross-sectional survey of adults in the U.S. These meats include bacon, sausage, luncheon meats and cured hams.
A national workplace ban on smoking in Ireland resulted in an 83 percent reduction in air pollution in pubs, an 80 percent decrease in airborne carcinogens for patrons and staff, and an improvement in the respiratory health of bar workers, according to a one-year follow-up study.
In a large, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 22,071 healthy male physicians, taking a low-dose of aspirin every other day lowered the risk of receiving an initial asthma diagnosis by 22 percent.
People who smoke marijuana–even heavy, long-term marijuana users–do not appear to be at increased risk of developing lung cancer, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23rd. Marijuana smoking also did not appear to increase the risk of head and neck cancers, such as cancer of the tongue, mouth, throat, or esophagus, the study found.
Children living close to a major road are significantly more likely to have asthma than children who live farther away, according to study findings presented today at the American Thoracic Society International Conference. Children living within 75 meters (about 82 yards) of a major road had a nearly 50 percent greater risk of having had asthma symptoms in the previous year than were children who lived more than 300 meters (about 328 yards) away, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
More than half of people with chronic cough-a nagging cough that can last for months or even years-suffer from depressive symptoms, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23. The study of 100 people with chronic cough that had lasted an average of 9 years found that 53% suffered from depressive symptoms.
Pulmonologists have linked a gene to the lung irritation commonly suffered following chronic exposure to ozone, a major component of urban air pollution. Should the new finding in mice be corroborated in human studies, drugs that block the function of the gene might serve as useful treatments for patients with asthma, the researchers said.