Treating mucus plugs in COPD could affect mortality

Targeting mucus plugs could lower mortality from COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Researchers reported this finding on May 21, 2023 in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings were also reported on the same day at the American Thoracic Society 2023 International Conference. “As a chronic disease, […]

Artificial intelligence can help categorize and triage primary care patients with respiratory symptoms

Researchers from Iceland trained a machine learning model with artificial intelligence to triage patients with respiratory symptoms before the patients visit a primary care clinic. To train the machine learning model, the researchers used only questions that a patient might be asked about before a clinic visit. Information was extracted from 1,500 clinical text notes that included a physician’s interpretation […]

Experts call for monitoring of respiratory vaccine after trials suggest possible increase in preterm births

Experts have called for further scrutiny of a new Pfizer vaccine given during pregnancy to prevent respiratory infection in infants, after trials of a similar GSK vaccine were stopped after  a rise in preterm birth and infant deaths. Pfizer says its vaccine is safe and effective, but experts contacted as part of an investigation published by The BMJ today, say Pfizer’s trial data […]

Poor sleep may bolster genetic susceptibility to asthma, potentially doubling risk

Poor quality sleep may bolster a person’s genetic susceptibility to asthma, potentially doubling their risk of being diagnosed with the condition, suggests a large UK Biobank study, published in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research. A healthy sleep pattern seems to be linked to a lower risk of asthma, prompting the researchers to suggest that spotting and treating sleep […]

Allergic (atopic) asthma/eczema linked to heightened risk of osteoarthritis

People with atopic (allergic) diseases like asthma or eczema may be at heightened risk of the painful and often disabling joint condition, osteoarthritis, finds research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Drugs used to dampen down the physiological prompts for allergic reactions in the body may help lessen this risk, suggest the researchers. Osteoarthritis is the most common […]

Frequent GP visits improve health outcomes for children with asthma but are often irregular and inconsistent

Frequent GP visits improve health outcomes for children with asthma, however they are often irregular and inconsistent leading to an increase in hospital readmissions, new research has found. Two studies, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, have highlighted the gaps and opportunities across the primary care network in childhood asthma care to ensure services remain accessible in the wake of GP […]

Common heartburn drugs could speed up TB treatment

The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) today, may mean TB can be cured with shorter treatments. TB typically takes months to treat with multiple drugs. This poses logistical challenges in completing treatment for many people. So, it is widely agreed that shortening TB treatment is needed to thwart the global burden of the disease. Heartburn drugs […]

A way to make asthma drugs last longer

For many, inhalers are a sort of miracle drug. From gasping for air one minute, to breathing normally the next, patients can experience significant relief after one or two puffs. What few people realize is that these life-saving medicines can actually stop working in the long term, especially in people who use them often and in high doses. Researchers around […]

CPR education in public housing communities may improve cardiac arrest survival

Of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in residential areas of Vienna and Copenhagen from 2016-2021, one-third of those cardiac arrests occurred in public housing communities. That occurrence jumped to more than 60% when including areas surrounding public housing communication, suggesting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) education programs tailored to these communities may be an efficient strategy to train more people to save lives, according to preliminary research […]