Sleep Apnea Often Complicates Difficult Asthma
Embargoed until Sunday, May 18, 8:15 a.m. PDT
Kevin K. Brown, M.D., and his colleagues will present data from a retrospective study indicating that at least 25% of adult patients with difficult-to-control asthma also have obstructive sleep apnea. Diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea could help these patients with otherwise refractory symptoms.
Abstract: http://www.abstracts2view.com/ats/view.php?nu=ATS3L_1070
Risk Factors for Hot Tub Lung
Embargoed until Tuesday, May 20, 8:15 a.m PDT
Users of indoor hot tubs and therapy pools are at risk for a respiratory ailment, nicknamed "hot tub lung," which is caused by an allergic reaction to nontubercular mycobacteria (NTM) growing in the water. Cecile Rose, M.D., and her colleagues have analyzed risk factors associated with high NTM levels in 18 warm water therapy pools and indoor hot tubs. Pools cleaned with chlorine or bromine were associated with lower NTM concentrations than those treated with UV light and hydrogen peroxide. Pools with more frequent changes of water also had lower NTM concentrations.
Abstract: http://www.abstracts2view.com/ats/view.php?nu=ATS3L_2454
Genetic Mutation Found Frequently in People with Mycobacterial Infections
Embargoed until Tuesday, May 20, 1:30 p.m. PDT
Doctors at National Jewish are seeing more cases of nontuberculous mycobacterial lung infections. If an NTM infects your lungs it can be a very difficult organism to defeat; some patients take courses of strong antibiotics for years. Rapid-growing mycobacteria are especially nasty strains of these organisms. Mycobacteria are widespread in the environment, but nobody knows why some people get the infections and others do not.
Michael Iseman, M.D., will report that more than 30% of the RGM-infected patients seen at National Jewish had an abnormal gene for alpha-1 antitrypsin, a protein that helps protect the lungs. Only 4% of general population has that mutation. Mutation of both copies of the gene typically causes severe emphysema. Almost all of the RGM-infected patients had only one mutated gene, which is not otherwise associated with disease. Iseman and his colleagues suspect that anomalies of the alpha-1 antitrypsin system predispose patients to NTM disease.
Abstract: http://www.abstracts2view.com/ats/view.php?nu=ATS3L_5309
Cystic Fibrosis -- Not Just a Childhood Disease
Embargoed until Wednesday, May 21, 8:15 a.m. PDT
Most people think of cystic fibrosis as a young person's disease, with patients dying before they grow old. Jerry Nick, M.D., will address that misconception to rest when he describes a growing population of cystic fibrosis patients over the age of 40. The growth in the adult cystic fibrosis population comes from two main factors. One, better treatment has increased the lifespan of patients diagnosed in childhood. Two, more patients are being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as adults. National Jewish hosts one of the largest adult cystic fibrosis clinics in the United States.
Abstract: http://www.abstracts2view.com/ats/view.php?nu=ATS3L_5300