lung

Long-Term Survival can be Predicted by a Simple Lung Test

Researchers have found a simple pulmonary test can predict overall long-term survival rates in both men and women. Their findings are presented in the September issue of Chest. Researchers studied survival rates based on a lung function test, called forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1).They performed the lung function test on a group of more than 550 men and more than 640 wom...

ZD1839 Proves Effective - A Breakthrough in fighting Lung Cancer

Lung cancer, the header among all forms of cancer, is avenged now by the new proven effective ZD1839. It has been shown that ZD1839, an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has confirmed, durable responses and safety in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as monotherapy and in combination with standard chemotherapy agents after segmental scrut...

Quitting smoking stops lung decline

Quitting smoking for a year at a time can keep lungs from deteriorating and reduce the risk of death, according to American researchers. At the University of Ohahio, Dr.Margit Pelkon and collegues investigated the effects of quitting smoking. They studied more than 1,000 Finnish participants in four groups:// those who had never smoked, those who had quit permanently, those who had qui...

Genes for lung disease

Researchers in the US have found that genes contribute to the risk of chronic lung disease, along with smoking. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the name given to chronic bronchitis and emphysema - is very disabling, because it leads to increasing shortness of breath. It's linked with gradual destruction of lung tissue and smoking is a major cause of the problem.// Howeve...

Detecting Lung Cancer In Its Initial Stages

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death worldwide, accounting for more than 1.3 million deaths a year. // Since the disease is hard to detect in early and treatable stages, most cases are found only after the cancer has spread. Studies have shown CT scans can identify the disease in an early stage in individuals considered at high risk for lung cancer, but they also identify m...

Reality Of Lung Cancer May Discourage Smoking

The habit of smoking tobacco can be given up through watching the consequences of the habit in real life, according to Dr. Lori Bastian, of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham. This is particularly so while taking care of a relative who is suffering from the disease. // A telephone counseling program has also been designed by Bastian and her team. This extends over a period of 12...

Fish for the lungs

Consumption of fish, green vegetables, fruit, and milk may reduce the risk of lung cancer. Studies reveal that diet can influence the development of cancer. Eating large amounts of fish could protect smokers against lung cancer. Experts repeatedly warn that fish consumption may only have a moderating effect and smokers should not assume that it is safe to carry on smoking as long as they...

For healthy lungs

Middle-aged men who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables have healthier lungs than those who do not, according to research.The study, published in the journal Thorax, analysed data taken in the 1980s. It found that the lung capacity or "forced expiratory volume" (FEV) of people with a high intake of two particular vitamins - C and E - was better than average.Eating bread was also associated...

Asthmatics at increased risk of lung cancer

People who suffer from asthma, particularly women, may have an increased risk of developing lung cancer. Over a period of 30 years, researchers studied almost 100,000 patients who had been hospitalised and diagnosed with asthma.// None of the patients showed any signs of cancer at their initial assessment. Their health was monitored from the second year after asthma diagnosis until the la...

Recovery from lung injury

According to researchers older people have a less chance of surviving lung injury. But recovery is possible if ventilator treatment is given in time. On an average older people are more susceptible to lung problems that leave them needing the help of a ventilator.// What's not been clear is whether they do as well with treatment as those who are younger. A new study suggests that age is i...

Burden of lung disease

Lung disease is now the UK’s biggest killer, accounting for one in four deaths, more than cancer or coronary heart disease. The key issue is that the diversity of lung disease has yet to be recognised.// While other serious conditions have specialists who deal only in one disorder, chest physicians look after everything from lung cancer to chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder(COPD), ast...

Particulate matter affects lung development

When children living under polluted, hazy skies move away to communities with cleaner air, their lungs begin to grow more quickly, according to a study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.Preventive medicine researchers followed more than 100 children through their teen years and compared those who moved away to other communities in the West.Resulting changes in air poll...

Air pollution may raise risk of lung cancer

Strong new evidence suggests that an air pollutant emitted by power plants and vehicles raises the risk of lung cancer.City living can increase your chances of dying from lung cancer or heart disease//, and the culprits are particles of air pollution. The study authors contend that simply living in a major urban area exposes you to "fine particulate matter" that makes its way into your lu...

Reducing Lung Cancer Risk

People who stop smoking before they reach middle age can shun most of the dangers of developing lung cancer. There are now twice as many Britishers over the age of 50 who are former smokers compared with those who continue to smoke.// Over the past four decades, Britain has had the largest reduction in lung cancer in the world. One of the authors is Sir Richard Doll, professor of medi...

Drug to treat lung cancer shows promise

A pill long used around the world to treat dry mouth could help protect against lung cancer in lifelong smokers. The drug appears especially promising for former smokers, who still face a higher-than-usual risk// of lung cancers years after they quit. The preliminary study found that the medicine reduced the risk of new or worsening precancerous growths in the lungs of longtime smokers by...

Blood transfusion linked to lung ailment

The government and researchers are warning that blood transfusions can cause a serious and often-unrecognized lung problem that has been linked to more than 50 deaths// nationwide since 1990. About 8 million people donate blood and about 4.5 million patients receive transfusions each year. Testing for the antibodies in donated blood is difficult and not part of routine screening of the na...

Transforming stem cells to lung cells

The functioning of stem cells has an outstanding nature. Initially, the mouse stem cells have been transformed into fully-functioning lung cells, promising repair of damaged lung tissue. The potential of stem cells - primitive cells that can be turned into more specialised cells - is now well established.// Researchers at the Imperial College Tissue Engineering and now report on the first...

Vitamin C maintains healthy lungs

According to a recent study, the researchers confirmed that people who consume high levels of vitamin C and magnesium tend to have healthier lungs. And for the first time, the research showed that people with high levels of vitamin C intake experience less decline in lung function over time.// Just like an apple a day keeps the doctor away, an orange a day may help keep lung disease away,...

Apples keep lung disease away

According to researchers, smokers who eat lots of fruit and vegetables are less likely to develop chronic lung disease. Over 90 per cent of those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are smokers or ex-smokers. But only one in five smokers// actually develop COPD - so there must be influences that mitigate this risk factor, either genetic, lifestyle or environmental. Resea...

Impact on Lung function based on exposure

According to a new study, the the functionality of lungs can be well analysed based on the things we are exposed to in our early days. Scientists have long known a test called forced expiratory volume in 1 second, or FEV 1, //is an effective measure of lung function and predictor of morbidity and death. While FEV 1 tends to decline with age, investigators have speculated factors like expo...

An effective drug for lung cancer

According to a new study, a drug combination has the potential to double the life expectancy of patients with asbestos-related lung cancer called Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the cells that make up the lining// around the outside of the lungs and inside of the ribs or around the abdominal organs. It differs from other types of lung cancers in that it is caused by exposure to...

Time to re-assess lung donation concept

According to researchers, it may be possible to increase the supply of lungs for transplant.There is always a shortage of organs for transplantation.// Researchers in San Francisco and Nashville have been looking at the supply of lungs for transplant. They note that currently 80 per cent of lungs are rejected. That's a very high number. Could the criteria for selection be too strict?...

Diet and Lung Function

An area that has receive only a little scientific interest and virtually none from the news media is the connection between diet and respiratory health. A study of over 2,000 children aged 11-19// in southern California was done to examine this issue. The study appeared in the January 15, 2002 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Low magnesium and potassium intakes were a...

Viagra for heart and lung patients

Researchers from University of Texas observed that Viagra could be used to treat heart and lung disease. The reports are accurate, but based on a small experiment in healthy young men,// the results of which do not translate directly to people with chronic heart and lung disease. They report that the drug may be useful in treating people with pulmonary hypertension (caused by conditio...

Lung cancer gets better with new radiotherapy rule

Lung cancer can be effectively controlled with a higher dose of radiotherapy, with weekends off to recover. Standard treatment for lung cancer involves a daily dose of radiotherapy five days a week, for six weeks.// But better results have been found from a more intensive programme known as CHART which uses three doses a day for 12 days. Now researchers at the Mount Vernon Hospital, Midd...

National Lung Study in the process

The National Cancer Institute has announced the a new study that will involve 35,000 current or former smokers at 20 centers around the United States. The study is intended to uncover whether two different screening tests are effective in uncovering lung cancer before symptoms start.// Smoking drastically increases a person's risk of lung cancer and there are currently 90 million curre...

Light therapy devotes new hope in advanced lung cancer

Light therapy given during surgery extends survival time in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Life expectancy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is often measured only in months, for the disease is very hard to treat, especially when it has spread// to the chest wall. In a new approach, doctors at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, have tried photodynamic thera...

A new infection- 'hot tub lung'

Researchers at the Mayo clinic in a new study observe the dangers of getting a lung infection or irritation from a hot tub bath. No doubt it is relaxing to use a hot tub, or jacuzzi, at home or in a health club. The experts advice you to be sure of keeping the tub clean// and well-maintained in order to avoid developing a problem with a common bacterium that lives in hot water. They h...

Tentative inhaled steroids is worse for lung patients

According to a new study, patients with lung disease suffered more complications if they tried doing without inhaled steroids. Researchers in Texas studied a group of 200 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).// All received a high dose of inhaled steroids, to manage their condition, for a period of four months. After this time, they either continued the steroids or r...

Exercise with music aids with lung disorders

According to a new research, people with severe respiratory disease can walk further, and are less disabled, if they listen to music as they exercise. Exercise is key to pulmonary// rehabilitation in people who develop severe lung disease. The aim is to increase the distance they can walk in a fixed time and this helps them maintain their everyday abilities and independence. Researche...

Home care aids in lung disease

Nurses who are specialzed with specific skills do home care which is advantageous for people with lung disease. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema - or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - can be very disabling, because of breathlessness and impaired lung function. A new study from researchers at Barcelona// Hospital, Spain, shows that assigning patients with COPD to specialist n...

Use of CT scans to detect lung cancer questioned

A new study by the researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore cautioned that Computed Tomography(CT) scans may not be valuable for mass screening for lung cancer. They claimed that the harm of unnecessary testing for lung nodules detected by the CT scan that turn out to be benign,// and the costs of the scan far outweigh the number of lives saved by annual...

New lung cancer vaccine on the anvil

Researchers from Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute, led by Glenn Dranoff, MD,have reported in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology that vaccines made from patients' own tumors are safe and future enhancements could make them a powerful new treatment for deadly cancers. Researchers claim that the tumors grow out of control when the T-cells -- which orchestrate immune...

Longer Lung Cancer Survival

According to the American Cancer Society, there are 172,000 Americans diagnosed with lung cancer each year. Because there are no early screening tests, many of these cancers are caught in their later stages, making them difficult to treat. A new drug is now helping patients who have failed standard treatment. By going after that protein, the drug stops the cancer from growing. Studies sho...

Scanning Combo Helps Detect Lung Cancer

Combined use of two diagnostic imaging techniques -- the so-called CT and PET scans -- can reliably detect early lung cancer, claims a new European study.// Italian researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Milan used both CT (or computed tomography) scans and PET (or positron emission tomography) scans in their study of more than 1,000 heavy smokers. Participants had to have s...

Early Detection of Lung Cancer

Health officials may be one step closer to a widespread screening policy aimed at detecting lung cancer in its earliest and most treatable phase.// If further studies confirm findings from Italian researchers, doctors may one day use a combination of spiral computed tomography and positron emission tamography scanning to uncover the cancer before it becomes more difficult to treat....

Screening Cost-Effective for Lung Cancer

Diagnosing lung cancer before it's in a more advanced stage is key to survival of the patient. While a CT scan //can detect early lung cancer, researchers wanted to determine if it is a cost-effective option. A new study conducted by researchers who wanted to look at the cost-effectiveness of a CT scan for high-risk patients. The research was part of the Early Lung Cancer Action Project...

Age Affects Lung Disorder

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is a severe injury to most or all of both lungs. Patients with ARDS have severe shortness of breath and often are on life support. //A new study finds the age of a patient affects his chance of developing ARDS after a trauma. ARDS is not a specific disease; instead, it is a lung dysfunction that is associated with a number of diseases including pneum...

Does Radiation Cause Lung Cancer?

Could the radiation a woman receives for breast cancer be putting her at higher risk for subsequent development of lung cancer?// Studies finds women who underwent simple mastectomy and radiotherapy for their cancer were more likely than those who had a radical mastectomy and no radiotherapy to later develop lung cancer. However, no difference in subsequent lung cancer rates were noted...

Female Smokers More Prone To Lung Cancer

Currently, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States. In 2003, the American Cancer Society figures about 171,900 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed and that // 157,200 people will die from it. New research shows women have double the risk of developing lung cancer from smoking than do men. Researchers in New York studied...