Tuberculosis; About 1.5 million people died of tuberculosis (TB) in 2017, making it the most lethal infectious disease worldwide. A growing rise in drug-resistant TB is a major obstacle to successfully treating the illness. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Umea University in Sweden have find a compound that…
Artificial Sweeteners; Originally synthesized in 1879 by Ira Remsen and Constantin Fahlberg, saccharin was the first artificial sweetener discovered. Fast forward to today and the artificial sweetener industry is booming with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion and numerous artificial sweeteners on the market in both food and drink products. Around 40 percent of adults and…
Acute respiratory disease traditionally strikes military recruits station in close quarters. But the disease often spread by Adenovirus can also afflict civilians in medical settings. One type of Adenovirus, Ad7, reportedly killed 11 children at a New Jersey hospital in 2018. Adenovirus type 7 (Ad7) infection is associate with acute respiratory disease (ARD), fever, bronchitis,…
Automate cough analysis technology incorporated in a smartphone app could help to diagnose childhood respiratory disorders, according to a study published in the open access journal Respiratory Research. Researchers at Curtin University and The University of Queensland, Australia, showed that a smartphone app had high accuracy (between 81% and 97%) in diagnosing asthma, croup, pneumonia, lower…
Anti Tuberculosis drug, In July last year, South Africa became the first country to roll out a new anti-tuberculosis drug in its national programme. This new drug, called bedaquiline, is the first new anti-tuberculosis drug to be develop in four decades. It improves the survival of patients with multidrug resistant TB, potentially offering a shorter treatment…
Chest Pain, Most patients seen in a hospital emergency department for chest pain did not experience major cardiac events within six months following discharge, new research from UC Davis Health and Oregon Health Sciences University cardiologists shows. Also, the few study participants who had major cardiac events within six months of discharge were not identified by cardiac…
For many people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, a steroid inhaler is a daily necessity to keep their airways open and help them to breathe. Now, a new UBC analysis shows that these medicated devices may also reduce patients’ risk of lung cancer by as much as 30%. Outcomes for people The researchers…
Belgian research groups from the VIB, Ghent University, Ghent University Hospital, and the biotech company Argenx have solved a century-long puzzle about the presence of protein crystals in asthma. Normally, proteins do not crystallize in the body, but there are some instances when this process does occur. Charcot-Leyden crystals are made from the protein galectin-10…
After her second double-lung transplant in 2012, Cassie Stanley was able to travel to Miami, Mexico and Las Vegas, root for her beloved Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, work as a nanny and land a job as a paraprofessional at her local elementary school. But then, about a year ago, when Stanley and her boyfriend…
Redlining, which for decades was used to justify discriminatory mortgage lending practices, may be impacting the current health of affect communities, suggests new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco. An analysis of eight California cities shows that residents of historically redline neighborhoods; so are more than twice…
In the newest study, the researchers measured force expiratory flows (FEFs) at 3 and 12 months of babies born to 252 mothers who smoked. FEF measures the speed with which air can be force out of the lung. The mothers who smoke were randomize to either receive 500 mg of supplemental vitamin C; so every day…
Improved air quality in the Los Angeles region is linked to roughly 20% fewer new asthma cases in children, according to a USC study that tracked Southern California children over a 20-year period. The research expands on the landmark USC Children’s Health Study, which a few years ago found that children’s lungs had grown stronger…