Irish Medical Times Medical News for Healthcare Professionals
New approach could reduce geographical limitations and enable organs to be transported over longer distances
Donor lungs could be kept alive substantially longer with new preservation technique
Pulmonary
E-cigarettes linked to higher rate of successful attempts to quit
Growth in the use of e-cigarettes in England has been associated with a higher rate of successful attempts to quit smoking, according to a new study in The BMJ.
Real-world research on COPD
June Shannon spoke with Dr Sue Collier, Head of Medical Operations for the Salford Lung Study, about the latest results from this real-life COPD study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and how its design promises to revolutionise future clinical trials
Clinical tests ‘also needed’ for correct diagnosis
Asthma occurs when a person encounters something that irritates their lungs and causes the small airways to become inflamed and narrow, making it difficult to breathe.
Asthma control and management
In a ‘Focus on Asthma’, Caroline McDermott, Editor of MIMS Ireland, examines the importance of having a personalised asthma management plan in place so that the condition can be optimally managed and controlled
Childhood asthma overdiagnosed, inhalers a ‘fashion accessory’
Doctors are overdiagnosing asthma, with inhalers frequently dispensed for no good reason, to the point that they have “almost become a fashion accessory”, according to two leading respiratory doctors commenting in a leading article published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Some current smokers ‘won’t quit in one go’
A quality standard to help reduce tobacco-related harm for people who don’t feel able to stop smoking — which can account for as many as eight out of 10 COPD-related deaths — in one step has been published by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Exacerbators ‘must be identified’
Mortality rates are high among COPD patients who experience frequent acute exacerbations, Gary Culliton reports in his latest Clinical Update, where faster declines and poorer quality of life are also seen.
A SIMPLE guide to asthma care
Waterford GP Dr Dermot Nolan explains how the acronym ‘SIMPLE’ can be used to remind doctors of the key areas to address when dealing with patients with asthma.
Benefit of CF drug reported in pre-school kids
The oral drug ivacaftor appears to be safe and could be beneficial to children between the ages of two and five with a specific type of cystic fibrosis (CF), according to new research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.