News by Subject Medicine & Health

Patients with cystic fibrosis who take ivacaftor appear to have fewer respiratory infections over time than those not taking the drug, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

A simple finger-prick blood test could help prevent unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics for people with the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study by researchers from Cardiff University, University of Oxford and King's College London.

A study of more than 300,000 people has found that exposure to outdoor air pollution is linked to decreased lung function and an increased risk of developing COPD. Lung function normally declines as we age, but the new research published today in the European Respiratory Journal suggests that air pollution may contribute to the ageing process and adds to the evidence that breathing in polluted air harms the lungs.

A million times a year, pneumonia sends American adults to the hospital. And while antibiotics help save lives, a new study shows two-thirds receive more antibiotics than they probably need. It's not the care that happens in the hospital that leads to over-treatment, the study finds. Rather, it's the prescriptions that patients receive as they head home from the hospital. In all, 93% of the overly long antibiotic prescriptions given to pneumonia patients were written at hospital discharge.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and colleagues conducted the first-ever study to evaluate the impact the 2017 ACA/AHA guidelines could have on detecting gestational hypertension.

New research published in Respirology suggests that some respiratory symptoms may predict an earlier death in older adults. Also, such predictions differ by smoking status.