Improving Lung Function
Reported July 17, 2006
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — If asthmatic smokers break the habit, their lung function will improve. A study released this week reveals after just a week without cigarettes, smokers with asthma can expect to be breathing much easier.
Researchers from the University of Glasgow in Scotland found quitting smoking actually improved lung function for asthmatics better than high-dose anti-inflammatory treatments, like prednisolone.
In another study, researchers compared the two most common ways to treat lung lining infections in children. They found both therapies have similar results.
About 0.6 percent of childhood pneumonia cases will progress to an infection of the pleura. This very thin membrane lines the outside of the lungs. When it is infected, lungs cannot expand fully.
One of the current treatments for this condition is video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. This procedure costs $2,250 more than the another treatment, chest drainage using intrapleural urokinase — a chemical that helps clean the lung lining of pus and other substances associated with an infection.
Researchers from the Institute of Child Health in England recommend that chest drainage should be the primary choice for treating infections in the lining of the lungs.
SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2006;174:221-227:127-133
