http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a new biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it, leading to increased survival and improved lung function in animal models of pneumonia. They reported their findings today in Nature Immunology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-immunity-protein-ramps-inflammation-agents.html Immunology Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:00:01 EST news283951880 (HealthDay)—Although rare in the United States, three babies with birth defects caused by rubella (or "German measles") were reported in 2012 and doctors need to be on the lookout for such cases, a new government report indicates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-rubella-pregnancy-rare-devastating-baby.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:10:01 EST news283698049 Powerful antisense drugs that target disease-associated genes to block their expression can be used to treat a broad range of diseases. Though antisense therapy has been proven effective, challenges remain in ensuring that the drugs reach their intended targets. Two new methods for detecting and measuring the levels of antisense drugs in cells that could accelerate the development of improved antisense drugs are described in an article in BioResearch Open Access. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-methods-quantifying-antisense-drug-delivery.html Medical research Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:45:40 EST news278959533 University of Cambridge researchers have discovered how an antibiotic-resistant superbug exploits oxygen-limited conditions in the lungs of patients with severe respiratory disease to thrive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-potential-superbug.html Medical research Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:20:01 EST news278677034 In a development that could lead to faster and more effective toxicity tests for airborne chemicals, scientists from Rice University and the Rice spinoff company Nano3D Biosciences have used magnetic levitation to grow some of the most realistic lung tissue ever produced in a laboratory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-magnetically-levitated-tissues-toxicity.html Medical research Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:38:46 EST news278267911 New research suggests that lowering excessive levels of a protein in immune system cells could be a strategy to clear an infection that is deadly to patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-strategy-deadly-infection-cystic.html Medical research Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:35:54 EST news278170549 Smokers are leaving a history of addiction in their DNA that may help to measure their risk of cancer, according to research presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-smokers-history-addiction-dna.html Cancer Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:50:02 EST news271409864 LAM, short for pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, affects about 1 in 10,000 women of childbearing age and is characterized by proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells in the lung, destruction of lung tissue, and growth of lymphatic vessels. The disease manifests itself in a wide variety of ways, so it is sometimes difficult to diagnose and there is no cure. The disease is caused by inactivation of either of two genes, TSC1 or TSC2, but to date no animal model has been able to replicate the pathologic features those mutations produce in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mouse-debilitating-lung-disease-potential.html Medical research Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:01 EST news268488811 A new collaboration based at the University of Cambridge will aim to discover and develop new medicines to treat liver disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-collaboration-treatments-liver-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 07 Sep 2012 06:10:18 EST news266217012 (HealthDay)—Changing the position of a patient while receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer may reduce the later risks of heart and lung problems, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-face-down-position-safer-breast-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:29:59 EST news266149792 (HealthDay) -- Researchers have uncovered the first evidence that the adult human lung is capable of growing back -- at least in part -- after being surgically removed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-evidence-adult-human-lungs-regrow.html Medical research Thu, 19 Jul 2012 05:30:01 EST news261892800 (Medical Xpress) -- Comparing the DNA from patients at the best and worst extremes of a health condition can reveal genes for resistance and susceptibly. This approach discovered rare variations in the DCTN4 gene among cystic fibrosis patients most prone to early, chronic airway infections. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-dna-cystic-fibrosis-patients-chronic.html Genetics Sun, 08 Jul 2012 13:00:04 EST news260951107 Overactive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling has been linked to the development of cancer. Several drug therapies have been developed to treat these EGFR-associated cancers; however, many patients have developed resistance to these drugs and are therefore no longer responsive to drug treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-combination-drug-resistance-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:01:11 EST news257774460 Researchers in the United Kingdom have determined that azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that also has anti-inflammatory properties, can be an effective treatment option for patients suffering from bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a life-threatening complication that occurs in the majority of patients following lung transplantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-antibiotic-respiratory-function-lung-transplant.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 23 May 2012 10:10:01 EST news256985343 A tiny, resilient metal wire designed to gather and compress diseased lung tissue may offer relief to patients with severe heterogeneous emphysema, a subtype of the disease that involves specific, usually isolated areas of the lungs, according to the results of a multicenter international trial conducted in the Netherlands, Germany and France. The wire, called a lung volume reduction coil (LVRC), can be easily implanted and is designed to take the place of more invasive procedures used to improve the lung function of emphysema patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-tiny-implanted-lung-function-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 23 May 2012 09:51:01 EST news256985444 New guidelines for CT-guided biopsies of lung nodules significantly reduce radiation exposure allowing individuals the benefit of the procedure, which may cut down on overall lung cancer deaths. This research is being presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-dosage-ct-guided-lung-biopsy-protocol.html Cancer Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:07:38 EST news251903219 (Medical Xpress) -- A cheap and safe antibiotic that is widely available in the developing world might have a new use as a tuberculosis (TB) treatment, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-antibiotic-weapon-tuberculosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:20:01 EST news248947660 For patients suffering from severe pulmonary diseases including emphysema, lung cancer or fibrosis, transplantation of healthy lung tissue may offer the best chance for survival. The surgical procedure, however, faces two primary challenges: an acute shortage of donor lungs and rejection of transplanted tissue by the recipient's immune system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-lungs-fresh-cells-transplant-patients.html Medical research Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:58:26 EST news247337900 An analysis of lung and spleen tissue from patients who died of sepsis revealed certain biochemical, cellular and histological findings that were consistent with immunosuppression, according to a study in the December 21 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-severe-sepsis-impairment-immune.html Immunology Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:01:57 EST news243619303 Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is an incurable disease in which the delicate gas exchange region of the lung fills with scar tissue, which interferes with breathing. Now researchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered that commonly held ideas about the origins of the scar-forming (fibrotic) cells were incorrect. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-insights-cells-irreversibly-scar-lungs.html Medical research Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:40:01 EST news241964003 (Medical Xpress) -- Innovative technology being pioneered at Cardiff to speed up the discovery of new drugs to tackle lung diseases could also dramatically reduce testing on animals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-breakthrough-drug-discovery.html Medical research Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:10:42 EST news241423834 A protein critical to development appears to have a grave impact on lungs exposed to smoking and air pollution, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-protein-potential-treatment-adult-pulmonary.html Medical research Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:05:54 EST news238075546 By studying mice exposed to tobacco smoke for a period of months, researchers have new insight into how emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) develops. In the October 14th issue of Cell they also report a promising new way to reverse the lung damage underlying these conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-reversing-smoke-induced-disease-lung.html Medical research Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:25:00 EST news237731089 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at National Jewish Health have identified cells and signaling molecules that trigger the repair of injured lungs. Stijn De Langhe, PhD, and his colleagues report October 10, 2011, online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, that destruction of lung tissue in mice induces smooth muscle cells surrounding the airways to secrete a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10), which induces surviving epithelial cells in the airways to revert to a stem-cell state, proliferate, repair and repopulate the lining of the lungs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-stem-cells-pathways-lung.html Medical research Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:49:02 EST news237534514 There's more than one way to mop up after a flu infection. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in Nature Immunology that a previously unrecognized population of lung immune cells orchestrate the body's repair response following flu infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-rebooting-immune-cells-lung-tissues.html Medical research Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:57:44 EST news236876253 Many of the people who died from the new strain of H1N1 influenza that broke out in 2009 were suffering from another infection as well: pneumonia. A new study to be published Tuesday, September 20 in the online journal mBio reveals how the two infections, pandemic influenza and pneumonia, interact to make to make a lethal combination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-h1n1-pandemic-flu-lungs-opportunities.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:07:26 EST news235674431 Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-earliest-evidence-influenza-pandemic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:00:54 EST news235662152 Cigarette smoke exposure fundamentally alters airway tissue from people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the cellular level, laying the groundwork for airway thickening and even precipitating precancerous changes in cell proliferation that may be self-perpetuating long after cigarette smoke exposure ends, according to Australian researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-mechanism-underlying-copd-disease-persistence.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:50:01 EST news230981716 Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who report treatment for gastroespophageal reflux (GER) appear to have longer survival than IPF patients who are not treated for GERD, according to a new study from the University of California, San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-heartburn-treatment-survival-ipf-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:43:14 EST news230305378 Telomeres, the body's own cellular clocks, may be a crucial factor underlying the development of emphysema, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-links-telomere-length-emphysema.html Medical research Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:21:54 EST news229918898