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Researchers have found that molecules in vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower help to maintain a healthy barrier in the lung and ease infection. The AHR—aryl hydrocarbon receptor—is a protein found at barrier sites like the gut and the lung. Natural molecules in cruciferous vegetables—for example, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, or cabbage—are dietary 'ligands' for AHR, which means, once eaten, they activate AHR. This research now shows that AHR is highly active in endothelial cells lining blood vessels in the lung. The researchers conducted a series of experiments in mice to show how AHR impacts lung barriers. When mice were infected with...

Research led by the Centenary Institute and University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has identified a small RNA molecule called microRNA-21 as a therapeutic target and its inhibition as a potential treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). An inflammatory lung disease that makes it hard to breathe, COPD is often caused by smoking tobacco products or inhaling air pollution. It is the third most common cause of death in the world. In the pre-clinical study, the researchers found elevated levels of microRNA-21 in experimental COPD models involving mice. Use of a microRNA-21 inhibitor (antagomir-21) as a therapeutic treatment was shown...

Using a newly developed mouse model of acute lung injury, researchers found that exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone was enough to induce COVID-19-like symptoms including severe inflammation of the lungs. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is covered in tiny spike proteins. These proteins bind with receptors on our cells, starting a process that allows the virus to release its genetic material into a healthy cell. "Our findings show that the SARS-CoV2 spike protein causes lung injury even without the presence of intact virus," said Pavel Solopov, Ph.D., DVM, research assistant professor at the Frank Reidy Research Center...

"You are a liar." I don't usually engage in personal comments on Twitter but I couldn't let Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair and The New York Times get away with it. The MSM watched the 4 minute clip of President Trump speaking from Walter Reed. We, the American people, watched the same 4 minute clip. We saw our usual strong leader, breathing normally, upbeat, energetic, caring, loving and chomping at the bit to get back to work. The MSM painted him weak, gasping, coughing, leaning on the table for support, fearing for his life. Bullshit! They lie. They gaslight us....

People with underlying health conditions are six times more likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID-19 illness and 12 times more likely to die of the disease than otherwise healthy coronavirus patients, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most common underlying health conditions for COVID-19 patients are cardiovascular disease, lung disease and diabetes, the CDC said Monday. In an analysis of more than 1.3 million COVID-19 cases, the agency found 15 percent of patients were hospitalized and 5 percent died, though the true fatality rate is likely lower because people with...

"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...

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now aware of 153 possible cases of severe lung disease in 16 states that could be caused by vaping, the agency said Wednesday in an update to a multi-state investigation. The cases -- reported from June 28 to August 20, 2019 -- have popped up in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. They have primarily affected adolescents and young adults. This is an increase from Saturday, when CDC announced it was looking into 94 possible cases...

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...

A progressive and often fatal lung disease killed dentists at a much faster rate than that of the general population at a Virginia hospital over the past two decades, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reported that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis affected eight male dentists and a dental technician out of 900 patients studied, Newsweek reported. Although the dentists only represented 1 percent of the number with the disease, only 0.038 percent of people in the U.S. are dentists. Seven of the patients studied had already died of the disease, which causes...

Adding inhaled dry powder mannitol to standard therapy for cystic fibrosis produced sustained improvement in lung function for up to 52 weeks, according to a new study. Along with the treatment's efficacy and good safety profile, the convenience and ease of administration of mannitol treatment may improve adherence with therapy in these patients. In the double-blind study, which was supported by Pharmaxis Limited, 318 patients were randomized to treatment with 400 mg bid inhaled mannitol or 50 mg bid inhaled mannitol (control group) for 26 weeks, followed by an additional 26 weeks of open-label active treatment. A 50 mg dose...

Two Canadians have been injected with a genetically modified version of their own adult stem cells in an attempt to cure pulmonary hypertension, a rare, debilitating lung disease. The procedure, which has successfully cured rats with pulmonary hypertension, has halted the progress of the disease in the patients. The first patient, who has had the disease for 13 years, is reporting no ill effects from the treatment and has seen her condition improve. Researchers are hopeful that the treatment eventually will reverse or even cure the disease. "The use of ethical stem cells to treat disease is a positive and...

Discovery step toward developing treatment for various lung diseasesResearchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, coaxed umbilical cord blood stem cells to differentiate into a type of lung cell.  The cord blood cells differentiated into a type of lung cell called type II alveolar cells. These cells are responsible for secreting surfactant, a substance which allows the air sacs in the lungs to remain open, allowing air to move in and out of the sacs. The cells are also responsible for helping to repair the airway after injury.  "In the future, we may be able to...

St. Paul, MN (LifeNews.com) -- An advance in adult stem cell research could someday lead to treatments for patients with lung diseases. The advance shows that adult stem cells continue to be more ethical and effective than embryonic stem cells, which are only obtained by destroying human life and haven't yet helped any patients. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, coaxed umbilical cord blood stem cells to differentiate into a type of lung cell, according to a statement LifeNews.com obtained. The cord blood cells differentiated into a type of lung cell called type II alveolar...

WASHINGTON -- Quietly leaving his post as surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona said he would judge himself successful if he had persuaded one student to make good health choices or one mother to stop smoking. Carmona's report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of his tenure as the nation's 17th surgeon general.

3 years ago, Pat Hyde was plagued by a cough that didn't go away. A chest x-ray and a CT scan revealed spots on her lungs. Pat: "I had a big nodule over on my left lung up top, and I had quite a few nodules on my right side." With a history of lung cancer in her family, Pat thought it was cancer, and opted for surgery. After the operation, the biopsy produced a surprise - a bacterial lung infection called MAI complex. Dr. John Hansen-Flaschen of the University of Pennsylvania says very few people, including doctors, have ever...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with Viagra (sildenafil) can improve exercise capacity and functional ability in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a serious disease involving high pressure in the blood vessels that enter the lungs, new research suggests. The findings, which appear in The New England Journal of Medicine, are based on a study of 278 patients who were randomly selected to receive Viagra, at one of three doses, or inactive "placebo" three times daily for 12 weeks. The main endpoint was the distance walked in 6 minutes. According to the report, the study did not have enough patients...

China's rapid economic growth and industrialization is posing a major challenge to the environment with air pollution likely to rise five-fold in 15 years, officials warned Monday. "In the future 15 years, the population of China will reach 1.46 billion and the GDP will double, the pollution load will increase by four to five times according to the present resource consumption rate and pollution control level," said Zhang Lijun, vice minister of China's environmental agency SEPA. Zhang was speaking at an air pollution conference organized by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the US Environmental Protection Agency, the environmental directorate...

Whooping Cough Outbreak Communities throughout the U.S. are experiencing whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks - the worst in 40 years. If the school nurse or the health department informs you that there is a pertussis outbreak in your school or community, you may need to call your pediatrician. The school or health department will tell you if your child was directly exposed and requires antibiotics. Health departments across the country are acting quickly to prevent the spread of pertussis, so your cooperation in contacting your pediatrician is crucial. Please follow the instruction of the health department. The care of children in...

The main ingredient in Viagra is reborn as Revatio, a drug used to treat a fatal lung disease. Viagra, the erectile-dysfunction drug used by more than 26 million men worldwide, was reborn Monday as Revatio, a drug to treat pulmonary hypertension, a rare, fatal lung disease caused by constrictions in the blood vessels that supply the lungs. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug's main ingredient, sildenafil citrate, for the new indication in a different dose, 25 milligrams vs. 20, 50 and 100 milligrams for Viagra, and with a new look. Revatio is white and round; Viagra is a...

Michigan Firm Won't Allow Smoking, Even On Employee's Own Time LANSING, Mich. -- A Michigan health care company has fired four of its employees for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes. The company enacted a new policy this month, allowing workers to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking takes place after-hours, or at home. The founder of Weyco Inc. said the company doesn't want to pay the higher health care costs associated with smoking. An official of the company -- which administers health benefits -- estimated that 18 to 20 of its...