News

PHCentral News is gathered daily to bring you the latest developments in pulmonary hypertension treatments and research as well as stories we think are useful on an array of topics.  Under current news, you will find a dynamic list of stories for the last thirty (30) days.  You will find older news stories in our archives.    Stories about specific treatments can also be found in the medical section.

If you run across a news story we've missed or something with broad appeal you think would be useful, to many please send us a link and we'll make sure it gets added.   Send it to:  info@phcentral.org.

• March 10, 2010
• High Fiber Diet Linked to Lower Lung Disease Risk
• (National Post)
  People who get enough fiber in their diets, particularly from whole grains, may have a lower risk of developing chronic lung disease than those who eat few high-fiber foods, a new study finds.
   
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• March 09, 2010
• FDA Clears GeNO LLC Investigational New Drug Application for Nitric Oxide Delivery System
• (PR Newswire)

  Stand-Alone Nitrosyl(TM) Delivery Platform to begin Phase 2 clinical trials

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• March 08, 2010
• Sarcoidosis-associated Pulmonary Hypertension
• (MedScape)

  Data on the treatment of sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension are scarce, while the variety of underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are a major limitation in the implementation of a universal therapy. We report a 47-year-old ...

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• March 05, 2010
• Fruits and Veggies May Improve Lung Function in COPD
• (Medscape)

  A diet rich in raw fresh fruits, fruit juices, and vegetables may improve lung function and reduce exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a prospective randomized trial from Greece.

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• NIH and FDA Collaborate to Speed Therapies From Microscope to Marketplace
• (Medscape)

  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have announced a new partnership to increase the rate at which biomedical advances can be processed and moved through the regulatory process required for clinical application.

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• FDA Approves Extended-Release Hydromorphone for Chronic Pain
• (Medscape)

  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved hydromorphone HCl extended-release tablets (Exalgo, CombinatoRx, Inc) for the management of moderate to severe pain in opioid-tolerant patients requiring continuous, around-the-clock opioid analgesia for an extended period.

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• March 04, 2010
• Twelve years on, Viagra’s popularity is soaring
• (Health-xpress)

  It has been almost twelve years since the drug company Pfizer announced in 1998 that, following years of meticulous and intensely scrutinised trials, the impotence treatment Viagra had been approved to go on sale.

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• March 03, 2010
• Health Care: Obama Adopts A Good Idea From The GOP
• (SWAMPLAND.BLOGS.TIME.COM)

  President Obama picked up a good idea from the Republicans at last week's health care summit, one that will add a badly needed dose of fiscal reality to the health care bill. What's more, this Republican idea will improve the lives of tens of millions of poor people
   

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• March 02, 2010
• Young Madison man's death prompts diagnosis conference
• (RECORDERNEWSPAPERS.COM)

   MADISON ‑ R. Remmey Bumsted IV of Madison was an active and seemingly healthy 23-year-old when he suffered from Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) due to unsuspected congenital heart disease in February 2008.
   

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• Hoyer still optimistic on health care legislation
• (GOOGLE.COM)

  WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyers says members of Congress voting for legislation overhauling the health care system will be more than willing to defend it to voters in the fall elections.

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• March 01, 2010
• A wake-up call for those with sleep apnea
• (SILIVE.COM)

  STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Sleep apnea is a condition that results in oxygen desaturations (a drop in blood oxygen level) throughout the night due to breathing cessation by a central or an obstructive cause.

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• February 26, 2010
• 21.2% Medicare Pay Cut Will Take Effect Monday
• (Medscape)

  Unless a minor bipartisan miracle happens in Congress over the next few days, physicians will go over the cliff on Monday. That's when a scheduled 21.2% cut in Medicare reimbursement takes effect.

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• U.S. 'Tweaks' Stem Cell Policy
• (Medscape)

  The U.S. government broadened the definition of a human embryonic stem cell on Friday, helping to qualify several corporate and academic experiments for federal funding.

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• Shortened Height May Influence Lung Function Tests in COPD
• (Medscape)

  In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), vertebral deformities often contribute to excess height loss with aging - which in turn may lead to misinterpretation of patients' lung function tests, say researchers from Norway.

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• February 25, 2010
• H1N1 Pandemic Has Not Yet Peaked, WHO Says
• (MedScape)

  It is premature to say that the worst is over for the worldwide H1N1 influenza pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today. However, WHO will revisit that question in several weeks.

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• Mayo doctor describes life at 15,000 feet on Kilimanjaro
• (Post-Bulletin)

  The moonscape environment Wednesday brought amazing beauty to the climbing team high on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.
   

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• February 24, 2010
•  1800 Australians wait for transplan
• (Camden Advertiser)

  SYDNEY South West Area Health Service area donor co-ordinator Myra Sgorbini said everyone needed to talk about organ donation to discover the facts.

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• February 23, 2010
• Sildenafil Helps Young Patients with Single-Ventricle Disease
• (Nurse.com)

  Heart function significantly improved in children and young adults with single-ventricle congenital heart disease who have had the Fontan operation after treatment with sildenafil, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension, say researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
   

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• Sarcoidosis-associated Pulmonary Hypertension: A Role for Endothelin Receptor Antagonists?
• (MedScape)

  Data on the treatment of sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension are scarce, while the variety of underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are a major limitation in the implementation of a universal therapy. We report a 47-year-old male patient who presented with stage II sarcoidosis and associated severe pulmonary hypertension. Corticosteroid treatment ...

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• United Therapeutics Pulls Tyvaso European Application
• (Wall Street Journal)

  United Therapeutics Corp. (UTHR) pulled its European marketing application for Tyvaso, which treats a form of high blood pressure, after it became clear that it will have to conduct another clinical study to gain approval.

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• The Danger of Daily Aspirin
• (Wall Street Journal)

  If you're taking a daily aspirin for your heart, you may want to reconsider

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• February 22, 2010
•  NZ falls further behind in medicines access
• (New Zealand Doctor Online)

  Australian researcher Michael Wonder did not get an easy ride at his lecture outlining the New Zealand Government’s failure to subsidise innovative, new medicines at the same rate as across the Tasman.

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• February 19, 2010
• New Federal Report Details Health of US Population; Diagnostic Imaging Has Tripled
• (Medscape)

  New data are now available from "Health, United States, 2009," the federal government's 33rd annual report to the president and Congress on the health of America.  The report was released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics and contains 150 tables detailing various aspects of the health of the American population.

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• Extended-interval Once-daily Dosing of Aminoglycosides in Adult and Pediatric Patients with Cystic Fibrosis
• (Medscape)

  Extended-interval once-daily dosing with the aminoglycoside tobramycin has been proven to be equally efficacious as traditional thrice-daily dosing for treatment of the pulmonary exacerbations of cystic fibrosis in adults and children older than 5 years.

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• February 18, 2010
• FDA Approves New Device Investigated at AGH for Patients With Advanced Heart Failure
• (HEALTHCANAL.COM)

  HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) Provides Long-Term Treatment Option for Those Who Do Not Qualify for Heart Transplantation

  A revolutionary heart assist technology investigated for several years at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) has been approved by the FDA for patients with advanced heart failure who do not qualify for heart transplantation. Called the Thoratec® HeartMate II® Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS), the device is now available as “destination therapy” – or long-term treatment for those patients. 

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• Spectrum Health wins approval to perform West Michigan's first heart transplants
• (MLIVE.COM)

  GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health has two years to begin performing the first heart transplants in West Michigan now that state officials have granted the hospital system authorization to do the lucrative procedure

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• February 17, 2010
• Sarcoidosis-associated Pulmonary Hypertension: A Role for Endothelin Receptor Antagonists?
• (MEDSCAPE.COM)

  Abstract

  Data on the treatment of sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension are scarce, while the variety of underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are a major limitation in the implementation of a universal therapy. We report a 47-year-old male patient who presented with stage II sarcoidosis and associated severe pulmonary hypertension. Corticosteroid treatment resolved parenchymal lesions of the lung while vascular involvement did not respond, with the patient remaining in poor functional status. Addition of bosentan, a dual endothelin receptor antagonist, resulted in marked improvement in functional class and exercise capacity of the patient, allowing gradual tapering of steroids.

  Case Report

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• Faith complicates a young mother's life-or-death decision on lung transplant
• (WASHINGTON POST.COM)

  Maribel Perez breathes in short puffs, panting almost, through a hole cut into her trachea and covered demurely with a patch of gauze. Clear tubes connected to a noisy machine in the living room of her small Alexandria apartment pump pure oxygen into her nostrils.

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• February 16, 2010
• Mayo doctor to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to understand his patients' symptoms
• (POST BULLETIN .COM)

   

  Dr. Robert Frantz has been training to climb of the tallest mountain in Africa — Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro at a summit of a little over 19,300 feet — and now it's time to go.
   

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• Advocacy group says U.S. health insurers set record with 2009 profits
• (IFAWEBNEWS.COM)

  The five largest public U.S. health insurance companies generated record profits in 2009, according to a new report from Health Care for America Now (HCAN).

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• February 15, 2010
• Pfizer Buying Rights for Treatment with Stem Cells
• (CHXA.com)

  The use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes has attracted a lot of attention of the pharmaceutical industry and the best evidence for that is the announcement of Pfizer buying rights for the development of stem cells from Athersys.

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• KNOX v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY
• (LEAGLE.COM)

  Kevin Knox appeals from a District Court order affirming the denial of Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income under the Social Security Act by the Commissioner of Social Security (the "Commissioner").

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• 'It's an amazing legacy - the gift of life'
• (BIGISSUESCOTLAND.COM)

   

  It’s a heartbreaking subject that most of us feel is too painful for words, considering the death of a loved one – or our own mortality. But when one of your family is hanging on to life by a thread, and their only hope of survival is the transplant of an organ from another human being, the enormity of that gift of life becomes all-consuming.
  

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• February 12, 2010
• Sneeze Reflex: Facts and Fiction
• (Medscape)

  Sneezing is a protective reflex, and is sometimes a sign of various medical conditions. Sneezing has been a remarkable sign throughout the history. In Asia and Europe, superstitions regarding sneezing extend through a wide range of races and countries, and it has an ominous significance. Although sneezing is a protective reflex response, little else is known about it.

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• Novel Biomarker-Guided Strategy Hastens Optimal Dosing in Highest-Risk HF Patients
• (Medscape)

  A novel method for using natriuretic-peptide testing to optimize postdischarge therapy after acute heart-failure decompensation can cut the number of later days spent in the hospital and improve other clinical outcomes, according to researchers.

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• More Than Half of Americans Use Internet for Health
• (Medscape)

  More than half of Americans looked up health information on the Internet last year, U.S. government researchers reported on Tuesday.

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• Low Vitamin D Tied to Asthma Severity in Adults
• (Medscape)

  In adults with asthma, low vitamin D levels are linked with lower lung function, increased propensity for bronchospasm, and reduced response to glucocorticoids.

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• February 11, 2010
• Swine Flu Still Out There
• (Reuters)

  The H1N1 strain is the dominant form of influenza globally, but some seasonal strains are starting to emerge in China and Africa, the World Health Organization reported.

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• February 10, 2010
• New approach needed in PAH trials
• (The Heart.org)

  The lead author of a new review of current therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) says they have "uncertain effects" on long-term survival and that a shake-up of this research field is long overdue [1].

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• February 09, 2010
• Altitude and the Heart: Is Going High Safe for Your Cardiac Patient?
• (Cardio Source)

  Ease of travel and an interest in high altitude recreation exposes patients to the acute physiologic effects of high altitude and lower oxygen availability. Acute exposure to high altitude is associated with significant alterations to the cardiovascular system, with acute hypoxia, increased myocardial work, increased epinephrine release, and increased pulmonary artery pressures. This review summarized the ...

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• February 08, 2010
•  New hope for Canadians with devastating lung disorder
• (PHARMALIVE.COM)

  Adcirca™ (tadalafil) is now available in Canada for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Adcirca represents an important new and convenient option for the estimated 2,000 to 10,000 Canadians with this rare but progressive and serious disorder. Characterized by an elevation of pressure in the pulmonary (lung) arteries, PAH can lead to shortness of breath, fatigue, heart failure and often leads to death within four years of diagnosis.

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• Lung Rx and mondobiotech seek indications for Aviptadil for rare lung diseases
• (Gerson Lehrman Group)

  Aviptadil, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a novel target for the treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension (PAH)  that was shown to have beneficial effects on hemodynamics and safety in a phase II clinical trial for PAH.
  
   

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• This lung condition is curable
• (Times of India)

  There's hope for millions of patients.  There is a cent for cent cure for pulmonary embolism...

•