Articles
Airway Inflammation in Asthma Non-invasive Assessment in Clinical Practice
Airway inflammation is probably the most important component of asthma. In spite of that, monitoring of disease activity in asthma often relies on a...
Applying the Asthma Guidelines to Patients - Barriers and Current State
Annual healthcare costs due to asthma has been estimated to be US$12.7 billion per year with lost productivity estimated to be US$4.6 billion.2 ...
Asthma in the Elderly
This is a cardinal feature of asthma at any age. There is a common misperception that asthma is predominantly a childhood disease. However, in a...
Asthma Management
The actions that doctors and patients need to take in order to successfully manage and control asthma are to: • avoid exposure to triggering...
Bordetella bronchiseptica pneumonia in a man with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: a case report
Introduction Bordetella bronchiseptica is a common pathogen in the respiratory ract of many wild and domestic animals, but it is rarely found in...
Complementary Therapies for Smoking Cessation – A Useful Tool or Merely a Smoke Screen?
There are more than one billion smokers in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes 5.4 million deaths per year to tobacco use and...
Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
As a consequence, rates of access to health services are high, affecting both primary and secondary care. It is believed that early and accurate...
Evaluating Airflow Limitation and Reversibility Using Spirometry
Internationally, the Global Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) study recommends that COPD classification be based on post-bronchodilator spirometry.4...
Exhaled Breath Condensate as a Clinical Diagnostic with a Focus on Acid Reflux Cough
This latter mechanism contributes to not only cough and neurogenic inflammation, but also direct acid injury to the airway, akin to a burn, or...
Genetic Determinants of Smoking Cessation
The Tobacco Epidemic Tobacco has been identified as the second major cause of death in the world. Recent estimates suggest that more than 5 million...
Genetics of Asthma - Personalizing Healthcare
This heterogeneity, along with the variety of possible environmental exposures, contributes to the difficulty in both studying and treating asthma...
Levocetirizine for the Treatment of Seasonal and Perennial Allergic Rhinitis
Furthermore, co-morbid diseases such as allergic asthma, otitis media, chronic sinusitis and lower respiratory tract infections are common.3 AR...
Management of Pediatric Asthma
The goals of asthma therapy are to control symptoms of asthma and prevent exacerbations, maintain normal activity levels including exercise, maintain...
Managing Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Nationally AECOPD was responsible for over 725,000 hospitalizations and 1.5 million emergency department visits in 2000.2,3 Inpatient care for AECOPD...
Non-invasive Evaluation of Airway Inflammation in Asthma - What Has Been Learnt from Induced Sputum?
Bronchial biopsies and BAL, however, are too invasive to be used on a routine or serial basis. Analyzing induced sputum is a reproducible,...
Obesity and Asthma
More than 10% of two- to five-year-olds and 15% of six- to19-year-olds are overweight. This represents a near doubling of overweight children and a...
Occupational Asthma
Two types of OA have been recognised. Immunological OA appears after a latency period necessary for the worker to develop sensitisation to the causal...
Preventing, Diagnosing and Treating Pleural Infection and Malignant Pleural Effusion
The pleura is an elastic, serous membrane that lines the inner aspect of the thoracic cage and the outer surface of the lung; it has a surface area...
Pulmonological Relevance of the New European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps
The relevance of this document for pulmonologists will be outlined in the following paragraphs. Inflammation of mucosa in the paranasal sinuses and...
Rhinosinusitis Clinical Features and Management
Although it is not usually life-threatening, the discomfort of the symptoms and the loss of productive activity in patients are major medical and...
