Respiratory News and Research

RSS

Positive results from Sobi, Biogen Idec's rFIXFc Phase 3 trial on hemophilia B

Biogen Idec and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) today announced positive results from B-LONG, a clinical study that evaluated a new long-lasting clotting factor candidate in people with hemophilia B. Hemophilia B is a rare inherited disorder that impairs blood coagulation.

27 Sep 2012

Short-course amphotericin is cost-effective for cryptococcal meningitis

The treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in resource-limited settings is most effective with a short 1-week course of amphotericin induction therapy coupled with high-dose fluconazole for at least 2 weeks, a Ugandan study suggests.

26 Sep 2012

Concern grows about rice-related arsenic exposure

US children who consume rice have significantly higher levels of urinary arsenic than children who do not, show study results.

26 Sep 2012

Ileostomy closure carries its own burden

Ileostomy closure carries a considerable risk for morbidity, say the authors of the largest study of the procedure to date.

26 Sep 2012

Wheeze predicts sickle cell disease crisis

Wheezing is a significant indicator for morbidity in patients with sickle cell disease, US researchers believe.

26 Sep 2012

Increasing doses of radium chloride effective, tolerated in prostate cancer

Radium chloride treatment has dose-dependent beneficial effects on health outcomes in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases, report researchers.

26 Sep 2012

Pain survey effective for educating cancer patients

Surveying cancer patients on their knowledge about how to manage their pain is an effective way to target them for educational intervention, researchers say.

26 Sep 2012

Developing world lagging in anesthesia safety

Mortality after general anesthesia has declined over the past 50 years, but the greatest gains have been in developed countries, shows a systematic review in The Lancet.

26 Sep 2012

Tips on safe use of opioids in hospitals

On August 8, The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert on the safe use of opioids in hospitals. The Alert discussed the significance of accurate pain assessment and effective pain management plans.

26 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: The 'real story' of Ryan at AARP; 'Get thee to an emergency room'

The headlines this weekend were all about the boos Paul Ryan elicited on Friday when he addressed the AARP, the self-styled seniors' lobby. The herd of independent media minds missed the real story, which is that the Republican Vice Presidential nominee went into the heart of the entitlement culture, told some hard truths, and even won applause for doing so.

26 Sep 2012

Differences in viral illness patterns play a role in asthma development in urban, suburban children

Children living in low-income urban areas appear especially prone to developing asthma, possibly related to infections they acquire early in life. In a new study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, available online, researchers from the University of Wisconsin in Madison investigated viral respiratory illnesses and their possible role in the development of asthma in urban versus suburban babies.

26 Sep 2012

U.S. District Court rules in favor of Alnylam in patent infringement case against Tekmira

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the U.S. District Court of the District of Massachusetts has ruled in favor of Alnylam and has denied Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation's motion to dismiss certain claims and motion to disqualify Alnylam's counsel in an infringement suit filed in January 2012.

26 Sep 2012

Study: 42% of patients with advanced non-malignant conditions prefer home death

Improved home care resources for people with conditions such as dementia, who would prefer to die at home, are key to providing better end of life care and reducing the strain of the UK's ageing population on the NHS, according to researchers at King's College London.

26 Sep 2012

Two tiny RNA molecules play a key role in pathological heart growth and failure

Cardiac stress, for example a heart attack or high blood pressure, frequently leads to pathological heart growth and subsequently to heart failure. Two tiny RNA molecules play a key role in this detrimental development in mice, as researchers at the Hannover Medical School and the Göttingen Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry have now discovered.

26 Sep 2012

Three-factor tool could be all you need to assess surgery risk

A simple tool involving less than six variables to measure surgical outcomes could be all that is needed to predict inpatient mortality, show US study results.

25 Sep 2012

Cochlear implant an option for unhappy stapes patients

Cochlear implantation is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with far advanced otosclerosis who have not benefitted from stapedectomy, report US researchers.

25 Sep 2012

Armband labeling could prevent DNR confusion

Implementation of an electronic ordering and armband labeling process for patients with Do Not Resuscitate orders improved correct documentation of their wishes as well as physicians’ ability to recognize and act on them during a cardiac arrest scenario, report US researchers.

25 Sep 2012

Low blood sugar danger for critically ill

Further analysis of the NICE-SUGAR trial shows a dose‑response relationship between the degree of hypoglycemia and the risk for death in critically ill patients.

25 Sep 2012

Public, private sectors must engage to increase chances of success in fighting NCDs

"Some academics and non-profit organizations are skeptical of the motives of the increasing number of multinational companies who seek partnerships to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs)," Derek Yach, senior vice president of global health and agriculture policy at PepsiCo and former head of NCDs at WHO, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

25 Sep 2012

Chronic respiratory disease treatments: an interview with Dr Sven Jan-Anders Karlsson, CEO of Verona Pharma

There are many different chronic respiratory diseases. Verona Pharma is mainly focused on two diseases: asthma and COPD. Asthma is a very common disease and unfortunately it has been increasing in prevalence in developed countries. This is the same with COPD; however, there may be different reasons for this.

25 Sep 2012