In asthma, the contraction of the airway smooth muscle and the subsequent decrease in airflow involve a poorly understood set of mechanical and biochemical events. Organ-level and molecular-scale models of the airway are frequently based on purely mechanical or biochemical considerations and do not account for physiological mechanochemical couplings. Here, they present a microphysiological model…
In cystic fibrosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a much-feared pathogen. The bacterium easily colonizes the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, leading to chronic infections that are almost impossible to eradicate and are ultimately fatal. A new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons suggests the answer has to do with…
Asthma is a respiratory disorder which affects children as much as the adult population. Studies say that asthma, which is a lung disease is the third major cause contributing to hospitalization globally. While diagnosing and managing asthma in children under the age of 5 is a little difficult, new studies now indicate that children can…
Affordable technologies for tuberculosis testing could help millions of patients in poverty or remote settings. Researchers will develop diagnostic tests that require low implementation and running costs and minimal training and expertise. The technology will be use by doctors to interpret test results, log location details of patients and transmit data for reporting cases. The…
Children with mild asthma may use two inhalers one steroid and the other a bronchodilator, when symptoms occur, a new study shows. A team of researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine has found that kids with mild asthma may effectively manage their symptoms with inhalers. In the past, doctors will prescribe monthly steroid…
New drug has been approved as part of a powerful, three pronged treatment regimen for the most deadly strain of tuberculosis, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. Pretomanid tablets were approved to be used with bedaquiline and linezolid in adults with extensive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) of the lungs. Caused by a bacterium that…
Scientists from the University, in partnership with the Respiratory Research Network of India; have reported results from a study of more than 2000 Indian patients with evidence of permanent lung damage. Researchers have found that more than 1/3 of patients who successfully cured of Tuberculosis with antibiotics developed permanent lung damage which; in the worst…
Up to 11% of new childhood asthma cases could be prevented each year if European countries complied with the WHO PM2.5 air quality guidelines. Moreover, 33% of new annual cases could be prevent in European countries if they were able to reduce air pollution levels to lowest levels record in the literature. Those are the…
Only a year ago, Florence Attaway for decades a half pack a day smoker struggled to walk even one city block. “I had to take a taxi from my home one block to the hospital because I could hardly breathe,” said the 83-year-old New Yorker, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. But since coming…
The 37 patients in the trial had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); a common lung condition that involves a tightening of the lung airways and breathlessness. Verona Pharma found that daily doses of its inhaled drug beat the placebo at improving the amount of air that the patients’ lungs could exhale in one breath, a…
In a new study from SciLifeLab at Uppsala University, researchers have found a total of 141 regions (genes) in our genetic material that largely explain the genetic risk underlying asthma, hay fever and eczema. As many as 41 of the genes identified have not previously link to an elevated risk for these diseases. The results…
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common illness that develops in babies born premature with underdeveloped lungs. A chronic disease that may present long-term breathing problems and can be fatal, there is no cure for BPD. However, new data released in 2017 shows a ventilation protocol developed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, coupled with the treatment…