Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Pulmonology for October 2011. 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.
Switching From IV to Oral Meds Cuts Health Care Costs
MONDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) -- For patients who are clinically eligible for oral (PO) medication intake, switching from intravenous (IV) to oral medication can substantially reduce the annual cost of health care, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in Clinical Therapeutics.
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ATA: Thyroidectomy Improves Sleep Apnea Symptoms
FRIDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Surgical reduction or removal of an enlarged thyroid gland improves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptoms, including snoring, according to a study being presented in the annual meeting of the American Thyroid Association, held from Oct. 26 to 30 in Palm Springs, Calif.
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Small Airway Obstruction Heralds Emphysema in COPD
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The number of airways with a diameter of 2 to 2.5 mm is significantly reduced in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the narrowing and disappearance of small-airways precedes emphysematous destruction, according to a study published in the Oct. 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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No Lung Cancer Mortality Drop With Chest X-Ray Screening
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Annual lung cancer screening with chest radiographs for four years does not significantly decrease lung cancer mortality compared to usual care, according to a study published online Oct. 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from Oct. 22 to 26 in Honolulu.
Evidence Suggests Variable Effectiveness for Flu Vaccine
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Influenza vaccines provide variable effectiveness and efficacy in young children and adults, according to a study published online Oct. 26 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
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Smoking Rarely Cited As Cause of Death on Death Certificates
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors rarely cite smoking as the cause of death (COD) on death certificates, even in cases where there is a strong causal link to smoking, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.
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Ghost Authorship Prevalent in About One-Fifth of Articles
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The prevalence of articles with honorary authorship, ghost authorship, or both is 21 percent, which marks a significant decrease since 1996, according to a study published online Oct. 25 in BMJ.
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Low-Dose Lung Cancer CT Screens May Help Identify COPD
TUESDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Low-dose inspiratory and expiratory lung cancer screening computed tomography (CT) scans can be used to identify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study published in the Oct. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Insomnia Moderately Raises Risk of Myocardial Infarction
MONDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Insomnia symptoms are associated with a moderate increase in the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), according to a study published online Oct. 24 in Circulation.
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LABA Use Ups Risk of Serious Asthma Events in Children
MONDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) -- The use of long acting β²-adrenergic receptor agonists (LABAs) in children increases the risk for an excess of serious asthma-related events, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in Pediatrics.
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Immunotherapy-Chemo Combo Improves Survival in NSCLC
MONDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with advanced non-small-cell-lung cancer (NSCLC), combining TG4010 immunotherapy with standard chemotherapy improves six-month progression-free survival (PFS), according to a study published online Oct. 22 in The Lancet Oncology.
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Cough Predicts Idiopathic Lung Fibrosis Disease Progression
FRIDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Cough is common in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and is an independent predictor of disease progression, according to a study published in the August issue of Respirology.
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Oropharyngeal Exam Confirms Obstructive Sleep Apnea
THURSDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The Friedman tongue position (FTP) score on oropharyngeal examination confirms obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and is associated with its severity, according to a study published in the October issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery.
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Early Initiation of ART After TB Treatment Ups Survival
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with HIV and tuberculosis, initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) early after starting tuberculosis treatment improves survival in those with CD4+ T-cell counts of less than 50/mm³, according to three studies published in the Oct. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Nicotine Dependence Underdiagnosed in U.S. Vets
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. veterans are more likely than the general population to have a nicotine dependency, especially if they've struggled with other substances, mental illness, or homelessness, but VA services may be underestimating the scope of the problem, according to research published in the November issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease.
Readmission Risk Models Display Poor Predictive Ability
TUESDAY, Oct. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Most hospital readmission risk models have poor predictive ability, according to a review published in the Oct. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Heart Failure Hospitalizations Down From 1998 to 2008
TUESDAY, Oct. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Overall heart failure hospitalization rates in the United States declined significantly from 1998 to 2008, with black men showing the lowest rate of decline, according to a study published in the Oct. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Addition of Dulanermin Doesn't Improve Outcomes in NSCLC
TUESDAY, Oct. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Addition of dulanermin to paclitaxel and carboplatin (PC) and bevacizumab (PCB) does not improve outcomes for patients with advanced squamous or nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study published online Oct. 17 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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No Effect of Prophylaxis Type on Pulmonary Embolism Rate
FRIDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of pulmonary embolism after total hip arthroplasty does not differ by the type of prophylaxis or anesthesia used, according to a study published in the Oct. 5 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
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Same Cognition With Cerebral Perfusion, Hypothermic Arrest
FRIDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- For patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA), antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) confers no additional benefits over deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) for improving cognitive function, according to a study published in the Oct. 15 issue of The Lancet.
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Pediatric Asthma Drug Prescriptions on the Upswing
THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Among children, the use of medications to control asthma nearly doubled in the last decade, while costs associated with all asthma medications more than quadrupled, according to a September statistical brief published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Rare Disorders ID'd by NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program
THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- The extensive application of genomic technology under the U.S. National Institutes of Health Undiagnosed Diseases Program (NIH-UDP) helps diagnose complex and rare multisystem disorders, according to a report published online Sept. 26 in Genetics in Medicine.
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Vitamin D Dependent Pathway Key in Immunity Against TB
THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) released by T cells induces multiple macrophage responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in in a vitamin D-dependent pathway, according to a study published in the Oct. 12 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
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Organic Pollutants Up Atherosclerosis Risk in Elderly
THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Circulating levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are associated with atherosclerotic plaques and echogenicity of the intima-media complex in the elderly, independent of cardiovascular risk factors, according to a study published online Oct. 11 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Exposure to Air Toxics in Pregnancy Ups Preterm Birth
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal exposure to traffic-related air pollutants during pregnancy, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in Environmental Health.
Financial Conflicts of Interest Prevalent, Under-Reported
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Conflicts of interest (COI) are prevalent among members and chairs of guideline panels, and are under-reported, according to a study published online Oct. 11 in BMJ.
Leukemia Drug May Cause Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
TUESDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Sprycel (dasatinib), a drug administered to certain leukemia patients, may increase the rare but serious risk of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to an Oct. 11 safety announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
High Yield of Viral Diagnoses for RT-PCR in Respiratory Infection
TUESDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing has a high yield of viral diagnoses, but rapid communication of results to clinicians has no positive impact on hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, or duration of antibiotic use for children with acute respiratory infections (ARI), according to a study published online Oct. 10 in Pediatrics.
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Septicemia Most Costly Reason for Hospitalization in 2009
MONDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Septicemia was the single most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals in 2009, with expenditure totaling nearly $15.4 billion, according to an October statistical brief based on Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Chest Pain in Children Rarely Has Cardiac Cause
MONDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Although chest pain (CP) is a common complaint among children, it rarely has a cardiac cause, according to a study published online Oct. 10 in Pediatrics.
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Racial Disparity Persists in Nursing Home Flu Shot Rates
FRIDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of flu vaccination in nursing homes improved from 2006 to 2009, particularly for blacks, but they remain less likely to receive and more likely to refuse vaccination than white residents, according to a study published in the October issue of Health Affairs.
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Use of Oral Steroids Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency
THURSDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The use of oral steroids is associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) deficiency, according to a study published online Sept. 28 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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Chemicals That Keep Pools Clean Can Cause Harm
THURSDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- An estimated 4,010 illnesses or injuries caused by exposure to pool chemicals happen every year; some or many of these could be avoided by adhering to established recommendations, according to research published in the Oct. 7 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
More Minority Patients in Low-Quality, High-Cost Hospitals
THURSDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Hospitals where the quality is low and costs high (worst hospitals) in the United States care for a higher proportion of elderly black, Hispanic, and Medicaid patients than high-quality, low-cost institutions (best hospitals), according to a study published in the October issue of Health Affairs.
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Model Projects Smoking Will Up TB Cases, Deaths by 2050
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Assuming that current smoking trends will continue, it is estimated that tobacco smoking will cause 18 million tuberculosis cases and 40 million deaths from tuberculosis worldwide from 2010 to 2050, according to a study published online Oct. 4 in BMJ.
Membrane Oxygenation Reduces Mortality in H1N1-Related ARDS
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with H1N1-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), referral and transfer to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) center is associated with lower hospital mortality, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Omega-3 Supplements May Be Harmful in Acute Lung Injury
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Twice-daily enteral supplementation with omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, γ-linolenic acid, and antioxidants does not decrease ventilator-free days or improve other clinical outcomes, and may be harmful for patients with acute lung injury, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
High Children's Asthma Care Compliance in Peds Hospitals
TUESDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- For children admitted with asthma to pediatric hospitals, there are high levels of hospital compliance with Children's Asthma Care (CAC) quality measures for receiving asthma relievers (CAC-1) and systemic corticosteroids (CAC-2), and moderate compliance for discharge with a home-management care plan (CAC-3), according to a study published in the Oct. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Prior DNA Priming Ups Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness
TUESDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- H5-DNA priming 24 weeks prior to H5N1 monovalent inactivated vaccine (MIV) is safe, enhances H5-specific antibody titers, and induces protective hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) titers, according to a study published online Oct. 4 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
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Quantitative CT Phenotypes Linked to COPD Exacerbations
MONDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Quantitative computed tomographic (CT) phenotypic measures of bronchial wall thickness and total lung emphysema correlate with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation frequency, according to a study published in the October issue of Radiology.
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