Latest Respiratory diseases Stories
NIH stops one treatment arm of trial; Other two treatments to continue The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has stopped one arm of a three arm multi-center, clinical trial studying treatments for the lung-scarring disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for safety concerns. The trial found that people with IPF receiving a currently used triple-drug therapy consisting of prednisone, azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) had...
SYDNEY, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis (ASX: PXS) today announced the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion recommending the granting of a Marketing Authorisation for Bronchitol, clearing the way for the product to be used in Europe "for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in adults as an add-on therapy to best standard of care." Pharmaxis expects the European Commission to confirm this opinion and grant the...
NORTHBROOK, Ill., Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to encourage clinicians to be ready for COPD Awareness Month in November, the COPD Alliance (www.copd.org) has launched the "COPD Prepared" campaign. An estimated 24 million Americans have chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), half of whom remain undiagnosed, and the disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. With this in mind, the primary goal of the campaign is to encourage clinicians to take four...
Findings Offer Potential New Drug Target for COPD Therapy Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) leads to persistent inflammation of the airways and is typically managed with corticosteroids, a class of anti-inflammatory medication. However, corticosteroids do not improve survival nor alter the progression of COPD and may reduce lung symptoms as little as 20 percent. A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, found why corticosteroids do...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common lung disease that gets progressively worse over time, making it harder and harder to breathe. It is caused primarily by cigarette smoking, which leads to persistent inflammation in the airways and the subsequent destruction of the lung tissue. Given the central role of inflammation in COPD, it is surprising that patients derive little benefit from treatment with potent anti-inflammatory drugs known as corticosteroids. Working with cells...
A protein critical to development appears to have a grave impact on lungs exposed to smoking and air pollution, researchers report. Blocking that protein, called calpain, in the lungs may prove an effective way to avoid narrow, scarred blood vessels and pulmonary hypertension, said Dr. Yunchao Su, pharmacologist at Georgia Health Sciences University. "Calpain enables the bad behavior that occurs in pulmonary hypertension," said Su, corresponding author of the study published in the...
New Awards Totaling $200,000 to be Offered in 2012; Deadline for Letters of Intent is November 17, 2011 CHICAGO, Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) announced today that it has established the PFF Research Fund to Cure Pulmonary Fibrosis, a fund created to support research that will assist in the development of successful therapies for pulmonary fibrosis (PF). PF is a progressive and ultimately fatal lung disease that affects more than 200,000...
The Asbestos Legal Center pledges its support for new medical research and cutting-edge treatments at the VA of Los Angeles, providing new hope for veterans in the fight against Mesothelioma. San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) October 14, 2011 For many U.S. Military Service veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, the thought of seeking treatment at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital was an unsatisfactory proposition. Whether right or...
Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason, a mesothelioma law firm representing clients who have been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, support the upcoming fundraiser for the UCSF Thoracic Oncology Program and the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. The Porsche Race Car Classic, held this Sunday, October 16, 2011 at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, CA, is donating all the net proceeds from the ticket sales to help fight the war against lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths...
By studying mice exposed to tobacco smoke for a period of months, researchers have new insight into how emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) develops. In the October 14th issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, they also report a promising new way to reverse the lung damage underlying these conditions. "It has not been very clear what causes the disease and there has been no therapy to stop or reverse lung destruction in emphysema," said Norbert Weissman of the...
