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No link between viral infections during infancy and wheezing in childhood

The number of viral infections during infancy is not associated with wheezing later in childhood, according to a new study from researchers in the Netherlands. While viral illnesses with wheezing in infancy predicted wheezing later in childhood, this association was due in part to decreased neonatal lung function.

24 May 2012

Azithromycin can be effective treatment option for patients with BOS

Researchers in the United Kingdom have determined that azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that also has anti-inflammatory properties, can be an effective treatment option for patients suffering from bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a life-threatening complication that occurs in the majority of patients following lung transplantation.

24 May 2012

Researchers identify genetic marker linked with smoking quantity in African Americans

In a step toward understanding possible genetic differences in smoking behaviors, a team of researchers co-led by SRI International has identified a genetic marker associated with smoking quantity in people of African ancestry.

23 May 2012

Daily use of vitamin C by smoking pregnant woman improves pulmonary function in babies

Vitamin C supplementation in pregnant women who are unable to quit smoking significantly improves pulmonary function in their newborns, according to a new study.

23 May 2012

MCP enhances anti-cancer effects of two poly-botanical formulas

In a groundbreaking study, Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP), a highly researched natural compound enhanced the anti-cancer effects of two poly-botanical formulas.

23 May 2012

Results from Boehringer Ingelheim’s Respimat Phase II study on moderate, persistent asthma

Boehringer Ingelheim announced today results from a Phase II study evaluating the investigational compound tiotropium delivered once-daily via the Respimat Inhaler in adolescents with symptomatic, moderate persistent asthma.

23 May 2012

Benefits of ICS treatment vary among children with differing demographic, clinical characteristics

A further analysis of a previously published National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded study of children with mild persistent asthma reports the relative benefits of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment varies among children with differing demographic and clinical characteristics.

23 May 2012

Special feature of Science journal highlights protein array technology

A special feature in this week's issue of the journal Science highlights protein array technology, touching on research conducted by Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute's Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics.

23 May 2012

Sarcoidosis accounts for 25% of all deaths in African-American women

A new study conducted by researchers from Boston University has found that sarcoidosis accounts for 25 percent of all deaths among women in the Black Women's Health Study who have the disease. The study is the largest epidemiologic study to date to specifically address mortality in black females with sarcoidosis.

23 May 2012

Flexible sigmoidoscopy reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer

Research conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of a national study reveals that flexible sigmoidoscopy — a screening test for colorectal cancer that is less invasive and has fewer side-effects than colonoscopy — reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer.

23 May 2012

Scientists develop new type of anti-cancer drug

A team of University of Hawaii Cancer Center scientists led by James Turkson, Ph.D. have created a new type of anti-cancer drug named BP-1-102. The drug, which can be orally administered, targets a key protein that triggers the development of many types of cancer including lung, breast and skin cancers.

23 May 2012

International task force unveils revised definition of ARDS

An international task force this week unveiled a revised definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a disease first recognized during the Vietnam War in casualties with limb injuries who had trouble breathing.

23 May 2012

Inexpensive sleep disorder drug appears to be potent inhibitor of cancer cells

An inexpensive "orphan drug" used to treat sleep disorders appears to be a potent inhibitor of cancer cells, according to a new study led by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

22 May 2012

New definition for acute respiratory distress syndrome

Gordon D. Rubenfeld, M.D., of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada, and colleagues with the ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) Definition Task Force, developed a new definition of ARDS (the Berlin Definition) that focused on feasibility, reliability, validity and objective evaluation of its performance.

22 May 2012

Bayer’s Nexavar Phase 3 trial on NSCLC does not meet primary endpoint

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that a Phase 3 trial evaluating Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets in patients with advanced relapsed or refractory non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed after two or three previous treatments, did not meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival.

22 May 2012

Airway inflammation linked with asthma-related mortality rates in older adults

Higher mortality rates among older adult asthma patients compared to their younger counterparts may be due, at least in part, to an increase in airway inflammation, according to a study conducted by researchers in Canada, who note that their results imply that elderly patients are either less likely to follow asthma medication dosing instructions, or that the underlying airway inflammation in elderly patients is relatively resistant to current anti-inflammatory therapies.

22 May 2012

Noninvasive test can reduce feeding-related complications among premature infants

Tufts Medical Center researchers have shown that presence of a gene strongly linked to appetite regulation is highly predictive of a premature infant's readiness to feed orally. An analysis of just a drop of an infant's saliva could be the key to preventing many feeding problems and the expensive medical complications that can occur when infants are fed by mouth too early.

22 May 2012

UAB creates Program in Environmental and Translational Medicine

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has created a Program in Environmental and Translational Medicine, a multi-faceted approach to dealing with health issues tied to environmental origins.

22 May 2012

New knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria

Researchers from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Edinburgh have uncovered new knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria, concerning how malaria parasites are able to bind to cells in the brain and cause cerebral malaria - the most lethal form of the disease.

22 May 2012

HSF-1 protein likely source of chemotherapy-related heart damage in mice

Blocking a protein in the heart that is produced under stressful conditions could be a strategy to prevent cardiac damage that results from chemotherapy, a new study suggests.

22 May 2012