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You can’t debate your opponent if you have to debate the debate commission first. The privately-run Commission on Presidential Debates has decided to protect Joe Biden by any means necessary. Despite the event falling well beyond the relevant quarantine period following President Trump’s recent bout with COVID, this ostensibly “non-partisan” group took the unprecedented step of cancelling the second debate, which was scheduled to be a “town hall-style” affair in the battleground Miami market. In its place, the CPD unilaterally announced a “virtual debate.”Obviously, President Trump declined. No one — not even the most ardent Biden supporter — wants to...

Breathe easy. A new study suggests that surgical face masks don’t cause a buildup of carbon dioxide or restrict oxygen, despite opposing claims. The study, on the “Effect of Face Masks on Gas Exchange in Healthy Persons and Patients with COPD,” which was published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society on Friday, was conducted after a group of Florida residents challenged Florida’s mask-wearing mandate in June, arguing that wearing the protective face coverings could result in the buildup of too much carbon dioxide.

Two stem cell experts have found an abundance of abnormal stem cells in the lungs of patients who suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a leading cause of death worldwide. "We actually found that three variant cells in all COPD patients drive all the key features of the disease. One produces tremendous amounts of mucins which block the small airways, while the other two drive fibrosis and inflammation which together degrade the function of the lung," Xian reports in the May 14 issue of the journal Cell. "These patients have normal stem cells, though not many of them, but...

If you're smoking weed to ease your stress during the coronavirus pandemic, experts say it's time to think twice. Smoking marijuana, even occasionally, can increase your risk for more severe complications from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. "What happens to your airways when you smoke cannabis is that it causes some degree of inflammation, very similar to bronchitis, very similar to the type of inflammation that cigarette smoking can cause," said pulmonologist Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. "Now you have some airway inflammation and you get an infection on top of...

Men are 65 per cent more likely than women to die from coronavirus, according to statistics. Figures from the World Health Organization and Chinese scientists have revealed that 1.7 per cent of women who catch the virus will die compared to 2.8 per cent of men, even though neither sex is more likely to catch it. More than 98,000 people around the world have now been diagnosed with the virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, and at least 3,383 have died. Some experts have put the higher risk among men down to higher smoking and drinking rates – both...

Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally has died of complications due to coronavirus. McNally was a lung cancer survivor with chronic COPD.

(Reuters) - In just four years, marijuana use grew by 75% among Americans aged 65 and older, according to a new study, and researchers expressed concern over a lack of information on the potential health implications. The increase was most pronounced in women, those with higher incomes and more education, according to a report published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings continue a trend seen over the last decade, said the study's lead author, Benjamin Han, an assistant professor of geriatric medicine and palliative care at the New York University School of Medicine. "Consider that not even 10...

Introduction Antioxidant deficiency contributes to develop and aggravate various chronic diseases, including COPD which is sensitive to oxidative stress. Supplementation with vitamin C, as an antioxidant, improves antioxidant status in COPD.1 Several epidemiologic studies and prospective studies revealed protective effects of vitamin C intake on COPD. Vitamin C has symptom-relieving effects on the exacerbation of COPD. In addition, it improves pulmonary function in COPD. Moreover, a recent animal study has revealed that supplementation with vitamin C not only prevents the development of COPD but also restores the lung function in COPD subjects. (Snip) Vitamin C (also known as ascorbate or...

One of the goals in treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who suffer from hypoxemia, hypercapnia, and malnutrition is to correct the malnutrition without increasing the respiratory quotient and minimize the production of carbon dioxide. This 3-wk study evaluated the efficacy of feeding a high-fat, low-carbohydrate (CHO) nutritional supplement as opposed to a high-carbohydrate diet in COPD patients on parameters of pulmonary function. Methods Sixty COPD patients with low body weight (<90% ideal body weight) were randomized to the control group, which received dietary counseling for a high-CHO diet (15% protein, 20% to 30% fat, and 60% to...

"It has not been very clear what causes the disease and there has been no therapy to stop or reverse lung destruction in emphysema," said Norbert Weissman of the University of Giessen Lung Center in Germany. "There have really been no new concepts about therapy in the last 20 years." COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is expected to become the third-greatest cause of death worldwide by the year 2020. In addition to airway inflammation and decreased of respiratory function, COPD is often accompanied by pulmonary hypertension, which is essentially high blood pressure in the lungs. Whether this condition was...

... "I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past, so breathing is a little more difficult these days and I have to be careful," Nelson, 86, said. Nelson had to postpone the tail end of his tour in August due to breathing issues. He resumed the tour the next month. "I started smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever," Nelson told KSAT. "And that almost killed me." Now, he says, he's more conscientious about his health. "I don't smoke anymore -- take better care of myself."

It’s like Michael Jordan retiring from the NBA. It’s like Donald Trump quitting Twitter. It’s like Lindsay Lohan forsaking drama. Willie Nelson has quit weed. The country icon — whose smoking habit was rivaled only by Snoop Dogg‘s — told KSAT TV, “I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past, so breathing is a little more difficult these days and I have to be careful.”

When the most popular medical marijuana dispensary in Chicago begins selling recreational pot on New Year’s Day, it will operate like a busy restaurant. Dispensary 33 plans to take names from those in line and page customers by phone when they can get in. The North Side cannabis shop will take that unusual step due to the huge crowds expected when weed sales become legal under state law at 6 a.m. Jan. 1, 2020. The celebration will be similar to the unofficial pot holiday of April 20, or 4/20, when a Dispensary 33 street fest and special deals this year...

A new NHS-backed treatment could dramatically improve the day-to-day lives of people plagued by severe asthma attacks and who require regular trips to A&E. The new procedure involves a tiny probe that resembles an egg whisk being inserted into the lungs. This emits heat that shrinks scarred, thickened lung tissue, and aids breathing....{snip} ...studies showed it reduced emergency hospital admissions for life-threatening asthma attacks by 55 per cent – and that benefits continue for ten years...

Former First Lady Barbara Bush, 92, decided Sunday to focus on comfort care in the face of her failing health, rather than additional medical treatment. “Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment, and instead will focus on comfort care,” read a statement from the office of George H. W. Bush. Bush has been in an out of the hospital the past year battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure. The former first lady has been married to former...

Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health, a source close to the Bush family tells CNN. At 92 years old, Bush has been suffering for some time and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year while battling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure. The source said she is being cared for at her home in Houston and has decided she does not want to go back into the hospital.

George Noory made a brief mention that Art Bell has been in and out of the hospital here lately. He is back in now for problems with COPD (shortness of breath) Colitis and possible pneumonia. I can't get Art on my terrestrial radio, and am not yet in the habit of using my computer to get radio. So, I hadn't given Art any thought in quite a few months. I was saddened to hear that he's been feeling poorly for the last few months. Art is not quite sure when he'll be back on the air. He does have a...

DALLAS (AP) -- A letter from the Supreme Court's doctor says Antonin Scalia suffered from coronary artery disease, obesity and diabetes, among other ailments that probably contributed to the justice's sudden death. Presidio County District Attorney Rod Ponton cited the letter Tuesday, when he told The Associated Press there was nothing suspicious about the Feb. 13 death of the 79-year-old jurist. He said the long list of health problems made an autopsy unnecessary.

I knew he was sick and getting worse.My dad is the type that do not go to doctors ever. But now he wanted to go.I went with him to a lung doctor the other day that gave him the bad news. He is so strong and relaxed about it though. He has stopped smoking this summer which is extremely good. But still he is stage 3 -borderline to 4. Maybe I ask for prayers do deal with my dad being sick. I tend to worry and fuss a bit and become very protective. My dad seems to cope very good....

Actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for playing Spock in the “Star Trek” TV series, passed away Friday at his Los Angeles home. He was 83....