Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Pulmonology for October 2007. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Lung Cancer Inhibitors Induce Cell Death
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Inhibiting the activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with drugs such as gefitinib blocks the growth of lung cancer cells by inducing programmed cell death through the BIM protein, according to three studies published in the October issue of PLoS Medicine.
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New Evidence Suggests Impact of Vitamins A, D on Cancer
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Two new studies suggest an association between vitamin A and vitamin D on the incidence of lung cancer and colon cancer, respectively, according to reports published in the Nov. 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Abstract - Hittelman
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FDA Issues Draft Guidance on Acute Bacterial Sinusitis
TUESDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Oct. 30 the availability of a new draft guidance -- "Acute Bacterial Sinusitis: Developing Drugs for Treatment" -- to help clinical trial sponsors and investigators involved in the development of new drugs to treat the condition.
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New Guidelines for Cancer Patients at Risk of Blood Clots
TUESDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- The benefits of treating many cancer patients with anticoagulant drugs outweigh the risks, and the drugs should be administered to hospitalized cancer patients as a preventive measure, according to new guidelines published online Oct. 29 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Laryngeal Mask Airway Linked to Respiratory Complications
MONDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- In children who undergo general anesthesia with a laryngeal mask airway, those with a recent upper respiratory tract infection are more likely to experience respiratory complications, suggesting that anesthesiologists should wait at least two weeks after such infections are cleared before proceeding with anesthesia using a laryngeal mask airway, according to a report published in the November issue of Anesthesiology.
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Strategies Can Prevent Resistant Tuberculosis Spread
FRIDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of hospital infection control strategies could prevent the spread of nearly half of cases of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis, even in a rural community with limited resources, researchers report in the Oct. 27 issue of The Lancet.
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Ten Genes Predict Lung Cancer Prognosis
FRIDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A set of 10 genes can predict the course of lung cancer with an accuracy of about 75 percent, according to study findings published Oct. 18 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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New Technique of Vitamin A Delivery Shows Promise
FRIDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin A, also known as retinol, is a critical nutrient for lung maturation and repair after injury. Researchers have discovered that mixing a small amount of retinoic acid with retinol promotes the uptake of retinol into the lungs of vitamin A-deficient rats, a method that may hold promise for supplementation in humans, according to a report published in the November issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
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Economic Cost of Lung Cancer Treatment Yields Little Benefit
FRIDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A study examining the cost-effectiveness ratio for treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in elderly individuals reports dismal findings: between 1983 and 1997 mean survival improved by less than a month, whereas costs of treatment rose, yielding an average cost per life-year gained of $403,142 per patient. The study findings were released online Oct. 22 in advance of publication in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Cancer.
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Interleukin Inhibitor Reduces Asthma Symptoms
THURSDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Local treatment with an interleukin-4 variant that inhibits binding of interleukins involved in the inflammatory response can substantially reduce the symptoms of asthma, according to the results of a study published in the Oct. 20 issue of The Lancet.
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Adequate Zinc Linked to Better Health in Nursing Homes
THURSDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly nursing home residents who have normal serum zinc levels have a lower burden of pneumonia and require fewer antibiotic prescriptions than those with low serum zinc levels, according to research published in the Oct. 1 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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FDA Issues New Safety Warnings for Provigil
THURSDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Cephalon have issued new warnings to the prescribing information for Provigil (modafinil) regarding the risk of severe rashes, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, hypersensitivity reactions and psychiatric symptoms. Provigil is used to treat the excessive sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea and shift work sleep disorder in adults.
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Annual Death Rates Analyzed in Cardiogenic Shock Patients
TUESDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with myocardial infarction who experience cardiogenic shock and survive the first year, annual mortality rates are similar to those without shock and are largely determined by cardiovascular risk factors, according to research published in the Oct. 30 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Studies' Funding Linked to Reporting of Adverse Effects
TUESDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Studies of inhaled corticosteroids that are funded by the pharmaceutical manufacturer of the drug are less likely to find statistically significant adverse effects than studies that derive their funding elsewhere, according to a report published in the Oct. 22 Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Successful CPAP Treatment May Reduce Depression
MONDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with obstructive sleep apnea, successful treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is associated with significant and sustained reductions in symptoms of depression, according to a report published in the Oct. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
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Ibuprofen Improves Lung Function in Cystic Fibrosis
FRIDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- High-dose ibuprofen can improve lung function and reduce the need for antibiotics in patients with cystic fibrosis, according to a review published online Oct. 17 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
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Antibiotics Reduce Pneumonia Risk After Chest Infection
FRIDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Although there is no justification for using antibiotics to prevent serious complications as a result of upper respiratory tract infections, they are useful in protecting against pneumonia in elderly patients with chest infection, according to a report published online Oct. 18 in BMJ.
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Peptide Helps Diagnose Source of Chronic Dyspnea
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with dyspnea, plasma levels of pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (proBNP) are unaffected by pulmonary dysfunction, but are elevated when there is left ventricular dilatation, hypertrophy, systolic dysfunction or diastolic dysfunction, according to research published in the Oct. 23 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Autoantibodies May Lead to Early Lung Cancer Detection
MONDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Lung cancer could be detected earlier and treated more effectively as a result if a blood test to measure autoantibody response to one or more tumor-associated antigens were developed, according to a study published online in Thorax.
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Taking Statins Retards Decline of Lung Function in Elderly
MONDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) --The use of statin drugs appears to attenuate the decline in lung function among elderly men, including smokers and former smokers, researchers report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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Narcolepsy Linked with Higher BMI, Eating Disorder
FRIDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with narcolepsy are more likely to be overweight and have lower basal metabolism than people without the disorder; the greater weight may be due to metabolism or eating practices that help them minimize daytime sleepiness, according to research published in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.
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Household Cleaners Linked to Higher Risk of Adult Asthma
THURSDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Using spray cleaners frequently around the household may be a significant risk factor for adult asthma, according to research published in the Oct. 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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Atopic Diseases Associated with Fewer Brain Tumors
THURSDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- An inverse relationship between brain tumors and atopic diseases has been confirmed by a meta-analysis of studies conducted in seven countries, according to study findings published online Oct. 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Bacterial Colonization May Predict Childhood Asthma
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- In neonates, colonization of the hypopharyngeal region with certain types of bacteria may predict the development of recurrent wheeze and asthma in early childhood, researchers report in the Oct. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Disparities Found Between Medicaid, Commercial Patients
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Enrollees in Medicaid managed-care programs receive a poorer quality of health care than those in commercial managed-care programs, based on a variety of quality indicators, researchers report in the Oct. 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Vaccine Reduces Impact of Pneumonia in Elderly
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with community-acquired pneumonia have a 40 percent lower risk of mortality and intensive care unit admissions if they have been previously vaccinated with 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine, according to study findings published in the Oct. 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Relaxin Regulates Airway Responses in Mice
TUESDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Relaxin, a reproductive hormone, appears to regulate airway remodeling, and mice deficient in the hormone develop airway changes similar to those seen by inducing allergic airways disease, according to a report published in the September issue of Endocrinology.
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Poor Sleep Linked with Poor Functioning in Elderly Women
TUESDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who sleep poorly at night or nap more during the day are likely to face a variety of daytime functional limitations, including slower walking speed and more time needed to stand up from a seated position in a chair, researchers report in the Oct. 1 issue of Sleep.
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Irish Smoking Ban Leads to Improved Air Quality in Pubs
MONDAY, Oct. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Since the implementation of Ireland's public smoking ban, air quality in pubs has improved to the extent that workers who clean and repair accordions, an instrument which reportedly acts as an air filter by trapping contaminant particles, notice decreased soot deposits in the inner parts of the instruments, according to a letter published in the Sept. 29 issue of BMJ.
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Flu Vaccine Benefits Community-Dwelling Elderly
THURSDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- In the community-dwelling elderly population, influenza vaccination may significantly reduce the risks of flu- and pneumonia-related hospitalization and death, according to a report published in the Oct. 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Restrictive Physiology Common in Valve Stenosis Patients
THURSDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with isolated pulmonary valvular stenosis often have restrictive right ventricular physiology -- defined as antegrade pulmonary arterial flow in late diastole -- which has a negative impact on right ventricular long-axis function and decreases exercise tolerance, according to a report published in the Oct. 9 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Men More Likely Than Women to Receive ICDs
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- White men with heart failure are more likely than white women and black patients with heart failure to receive implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), according to two studies published in the Oct. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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FDA Approves New Influenza Vaccine for Adults
TUESDAY, Oct. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Afluria -- an additional seasonal flu vaccine for adults aged 18 and over -- received approval Sept. 28 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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FDA Cracks Down on Hydrocodone Products
TUESDAY, Oct. 2 (HealthDay News) -- By the end of 2007, companies must stop manufacturing and marketing unapproved prescription drug products containing the narcotic painkiller hydrocodone or face legal sanctions, according to a statement issued Sept. 28 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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