TUESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) –
Drinking a lot of soft drinks may increase the risk for asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a new study suggests.
Nearly 17,000 people aged 16 and older in South Australia were asked about their consumption of soft drinks such as Coke, flavored mineral water, lemonade, Powerade and Gatorade.
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — Smoking activates certain genes and portions of the immune system, which in turn causes inflammation that leads to emphysema.
So say researchers who mapped the destructive path from smoking to the debilitating lung disease in mice.
“Previously, emphysema was thought to be a nonspecific injurious response to long-term smoke exposure,” study author Dr. Farrah Kheradmand, a professor of medicine and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine, said in a college news release. “These studies show for the first time that emphysema is caused by a specific immune response induced by smoke.”
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) — Vitamin D supplements don’t seem to help most patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study by Belgian investigators.
Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two main forms of COPD, and many sufferers have both. The condition makes it hard for people to breathe.
FRIDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) — Air pollution may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure in black American women, a new study suggests.
Previous research has shown that air pollution boosts the chances of acute cardiovascular events such as stroke and heart attack, but it hasn’t been known whether it also increases the likelihood of chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure (hypertension).
THURSDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) — Use of gastric bands as a weight-loss aid is increasing, and doctors need to be alert for potential complications years later, say the authors of a new case report.
The report details problems that developed two years after a 49-year-old British woman underwent the weight-loss procedure. She sought treatment at a hospital after having night sweats and a persistent cough that produced green and yellow sputum for four months. Her medical history showed that she had asthma that had not responded to treatment and that she had been fitted with a laparoscopic adjustable gastric band in September 2008.
THURSDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) –
Americans’ awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is rising, but many of those at risk don’t talk to their doctor about symptoms, according to a new survey by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Symptoms of COPD — the third-leading cause of death in the United States — include shortness of breath, chronic coughing or wheezing, excess sputum production and a feeling of not being able to take a deep breath.
MONDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) — Exposure to the industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) appears to greatly increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease, and exposure to two other solvents also boosts the chances of developing the neurodegenerative disorder, a new study indicates.
As many as 500,000 people in the United States have Parkinson’s disease and more than 50,000 new cases are diagnosed in the country each year. Some research suggests that genetic and environmental factors might trigger Parkinson’s, and several studies have reported that exposure to solvents may increase the risk.
THURSDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) — Allergy shots are time-tested treatments that reduce health care costs and can now provide relief to allergy sufferers within weeks instead of months, according to experts.
And while allergy shots are currently given under the skin (subcutaneously), new methods of allergy immunotherapy are being investigated, delegates heard at this week’s annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Boston.
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) — Men with a history of heavy smoking who have a CT scan to look for lung cancer could benefit from a simultaneous check for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Dutch researchers suggest.
It’s estimated that smoking will cause more than 8 million deaths a year around the world in the coming decades. In addition to cardiovascular disease and cancer, COPD is a major cause of death in heavy smokers. Yet, it is under-diagnosed, and deaths from it are increasing, the researchers noted.
THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) — Smoky, inefficient indoor cooking and heating stoves that are widely used by people in developing nations contribute to 2 million deaths a year, according to health experts.
Indoor air pollution from these stoves affects about 3 billion people, or nearly half the world’s population, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists wrote in a commentary published in the current issue of the journal Science.
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