Respiratory

Smoke-free policies not only protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure, but they also reduce the social acceptability of smoking, help prevent youth and young adult smoking initiation, and increase smokers’ efforts to quit smoking. A recent report from the CDC assessed the importance and efficacy of smoke-free and tobacco-free policies among colleges and universities.

The environment children live in can often affect their pediatric asthma.

Compared with the general population, adults who survive an opioid overdose are 24 times more likely to die during the year after the incident from a variety of mental health and medical conditions, including from substance use–associated diseases and suicide, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

A conservative coalition is pushing a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but centrist Republicans getting ready for the midterm elections have no interest in it; the World Health Organization has unveiled the 11th version of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11); doctors in Puerto Rico are seeing a stunning rise in the number and severity of asthma cases that they attribute to destruction caused by Hurricane Maria last September.

Having adenoids or tonsils removed in childhood is a fairly common operation, but little is known about the long-term effects. A new study found that removal significantly increased the risk of respiratory, allergic, and infectious diseases later in life, and that the long-term risks of these surgeries deserve careful consideration.

Two recent studies evaluated the effects of asthma through addressing the costs and adherence to medications as well as the accessibility to certain resources for patients.

Results, lessons, and challenges of a local lung cancer screening program within a national demonstration project.

Major medical groups as well as patient advocacy groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs Thursday in Texas v. Azar, the lawsuit that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA), warning about the damage that would occur to American healthcare if the ACA is reversed by the courts. In addition, legal experts who have previously disagreed with each other about legal and policy questions about the ACA united in another filing, saying the arguments of both "the plaintiff States and the United States on the severability of the insurance mandate from the other provisions of the ACA are inconsistent with settled law."

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can result in pulmonary and extrapulmonary infections and are primarily acquired from environmental sources, including soil and water exposed surfaces. Recent studies investigated the risk factors of NTM infections and their prevalence among patients in the United States.

This longitudinal examination of the asthma medication ratio in a national sample of children has determined the predictive accuracy of a rolling 3-month ratio.

An allergy and asthma organization says it has ranked the top 100 cities in the United States where it is challenging to live with asthma, showing the influence of community factors on asthma rates.

Analysis of insurance claims reveals that criteria other than the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) persistent asthma definition can identify more at-risk patients with reasonable loss of specificity.

Two recent studies examined issues related to asthma statistics and treatment: is mortality underrepresented due to how death certificates are recorded? How well do providers adhere to clinical guidelines for asthma?

There are significant racial and socioeconomic disparities to consider when assessing adolescent asthma outcomes, especially since approximately 50% of adolescents with asthma-like symptoms go undiagnosed.

Studies presented at American Thoracic Society 2018 International Conference looked at video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and drug resistance mutations in nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease.

While knowledge and care for children with asthma has increased over time, overall morbidity has not decreased. A new study evaluated which interventions were effective at the point of discharge from the hospital to prevent readmission.

Non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM), a serious lung disease, can be identified in different ways in patients. Recently, 2 studies evaluated specific identification and causes of NTM in order to help predict treatment outcomes in the future.

Mines that are in compliance with the Mine Safety and Health Administration's requirements experience significantly lower lung disease cases over time compared with mines not in compliance. However, the lung disease burden among the coal mining industry has increased in the last decade.

A study found the use of interprofessional education improves students' knowledge and skill sets and promotes collaborative behaviors.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released a draft scoping document on new biologics for severe asthma. Public comment on the draft is open until June 5.

A new study published in JAMA showed that although estimates of prescription medication use for children and teens fell overall from 1999 to 2014, patterns differed by types of medications, with drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), asthma, and contraception all increasing. Use of antibiotics, antihistamines, and upper respiratory combination medications decreased.

The FDA Wednesday confirmed that there are “intermittent” shortages of Mylan’s EpiPen, an autoinjector device containing epinephrine to counteract the effects of anaphylaxis, but said it expects the delay to be short, while the manufacturer said the issue has to do with supply of third-party components.

Ivacaftor, the first drug that targeted the underlying defect of cystic fibrosis (CF), which affects about 30,000 people in the United States, improved outcomes and reduced hospitalizations, according to an analysis in the May issue of Health Affairs examining precision medicine.

Exposure to a short-term increase in pollution-causing airborne particles called fine particulate matter 2.5 is linked to the development of acute lower respiratory infection in young children, as well as additional doctor visits, according to new research.

Allergic diseases such as asthma were associated with a 1.66-fold increased hazard of psychiatric disorders in Taiwan, according to a large study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.