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:  contact/info+phcentral+org.

• September 1, 2010
• Pfizer to Acquire FoldRx Pharmaceuticals
• (prnewswire.com)

  FoldRx Focused on First-in-Class, Disease-Modifying, Oral Therapeutics to Treat Diseases Caused by Protein Misfolding
   

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• August 31, 2010
• Epoprostenol treatment for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension in pregnancy.
• (PubMed)

  Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare condition associated with significant maternal mortality. We report the management of a 37-year-old multigravida with severe disease using epoprostenol, a multidisciplinary approach, and a planned delivery. Although the patient survived the pregnancy, her pulmonary function significantly worsened. Epoprostenol, a pulmonary vasodilator, should be considered when indicated during pregnancy. Neither fetal nor neonatal harm was identified.

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• August 30, 2010
• SSRIs: Are They Worth the Risk?
• (lawyersandsettlements.com)

  Bellingham, WA: Women who take antidepressants may know that potential SSRI side effects including an increased risk of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN). A new study conducted in the US also suggests that antidepressants may not be useful for treating depression, while British studies suggest an increased risk of stroke and fracture for people who use antidepressants.

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• Increased risk of pulmonary embolism among patients with hyperthyroidism: a five-year follow-up study.
• (PubMed)

  Teipeh -- Due to to a 5-year long term study of the Teipeh Medical University,  patients with hyperthyroidism have a 2.31 higher pulmonary emobolism risk.

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• Mutations in the G6PC3 gene cause Dursun syndrome, an overlap synodrome, with PH
• (PubMed)

  Abstract of an article by Durson et. Al. at Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre (MAHSC), University of Manchester, Manchester, UK --

  Dursun syndrome is a triad of familial primary pulmonary hypertension, leucopenia, and atrial septal defect.

  Here we demonstrate that mutations in G6PC3 cause Dursun syndrome. Mutations in G6PC3 are known to also cause severe congenital neutropenia type 4. Identification of the genetic basis of Dursun syndrome expands the pre-existing knowledge about the phenotypic effects of mutations in G6PC3. We propose that Dursun syndrome should now be considered as a subset of severe congenital neutropenia type 4 with pulmonary hypertension as an important clinical feature

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• August 29, 2010
• Echocardiography May Help Detect Pulmonary Vasculopathy in the Early Stages of PAH Associated with Systemic Sclerosis
• (Medscape)

  Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with systemic sclerosis is associated with a poor prognosis, but this can be improved by early disease detection. Abnormal pulmonary and cardiac function can be detected early by means of echocardiography, whereas right heart catheterization is usually performed later.

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• Dyspnoea in Patients with Acute Heart Failure: An Analysis of its Clinical Course, Determinants, and Relationship to 60-day Outcomes in the Protect Pilot Study
• (Medscape)

  Dyspnoea is the most common symptom leading to hospitalization for acute heart failure (AHF). Its early and persistent relief is an important goal of therapy, but little is known about its course, determinants, and prognostic significance.

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• In Heart Failure, High LV Diastolic Pressure, Obesity, Arrhythmia up Pulmonary HTN Risk
• (Medscape)

  In heart failure patients with ejection fractions above 50%, independent risk factors for pulmonary hypertension include high left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), morbid obesity, and arrhythmia, a new study shows.

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• August 28, 2010
• Excuses for Eating Chocolate Can Now Include Heart-Failure Prevention
• (Medscape)

  Not that many would need further encouragement to eat chocolate regularly, but a prospective observational study of older women in Sweden suggests that partaking of it up to a few times a week can cut the risk of heart failure by about a third.

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• Rising Furosemide Doses in Heart Failure Patients Don't Bode Well
• (Medscape)

  A rising need for furosemide is linked with a rising risk for death in elderly heart failure patients, a Canadian team reports in the American Heart Journal for August.

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• August 27, 2010
• Are you ready for a world without antibiotics?
• (Guardian)

  Antibiotics are a bedrock of modern medicine. But in the very near future, we're going to have to learn to live without them once again. And it's going to get nasty.

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• August 26, 2010
• NO Delivery System Recalled
• (Med Page Today)

  WASHINGTON -- The FDA has issued a class I recall -- the agency's most serious -- for the nitric oxide delivery system Inomax because of a pressure switch problem that could be fatal.

  An element in the switch may tear and interrupt drug flow to the patient, which can cause hypoxemia, hypotension, pulmonary hypertension, and death.

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• 2-year-old is youngest to get artificial lung
• (CNN Health)

  A child suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension at St. Louis Children's Hospital has become the youngest in the world to have used Novalung, a device that mimics the function of a lung. This artificial lung machine had never before been used in a child, or in any patient in the United States, the hospital said.

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• Malignant pertussis: an underdiagnosed illness
• (PubMed)

  Tunesia -- Malignant pertussis is a rare life-threatening illness characterized by severe respiratory failure, severe leukocytosis, and pulmonary hypertension. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of malignant pertussis in infants admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for severe acute respiratory failure associated with severe leukocytosis...(click the headline for more)

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• A doctor's journey from Iran to the United States
• (Stanford News)

  As an 11-year-old in 1982, Roham Zamanian , MD, embarked on a perilous two-year effort to escape from Iran. Zamanian is now an assistant professor and director of the adult pulmonary hypertension service at Stanford's Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease.

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• August 25, 2010
• Actelion Announces New Drug - VELETRI®
• (Press Release)

  Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the brand name VELETRI® for the company's epoprostenol for injection therapy. VELETRI has been commercially available since April 2010 as Epoprostenol for Injection for the treatment of moderate to severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and PAH associated with the scleroderma spectrum of disease. Actelion plans to release VELETRI-labeled product by early fourth quarter of 2010.

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• August 24, 2010
• Macitentan, a tissue-targeting endothelin receptor antagonist
• (PubMed)

  Macitentan (ACT-064992), under development by Actelion Ltd in collaboration with Japanese licensee Nippon Shinyaku Co Ltd, is an orally active, non-peptide dual endothelin (ET)A and ETB receptor antagonist for the potential treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). [..]

  Macitentan, because of its ability to target the tissues and to block both ETA and ETB receptors, is emerging as a new agent to treat cardiovascular disorders associated with chronic tissue ET system activation. [..]

  At the time of publication, a phase II trial in patients with IPF and a phase III trial in patients with PAH was ongoing. It is expected that the results of these trials will validate the safety and efficacy of macitentan.

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• Imatinib Mesylate trial in five PAH patients over 24 weeks
• (JSTAGE Japan)

  Japanese scientists reported their experience of a 24-weeks trial of imatinib mesylate for the treatment of PAH patients in a full text paper. The paper. In short the drug showed positive effects in some patients but causes renal problems in others. Those who are interrested in more details can read the (scientificly written) full text paper by clicking on the head line.

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• Exercise pulmonary hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis: Four distinct entities.
• (Arthritis & Rhymatism)

  Exercise pulmonary hypertension (PH) may represent an early, but clinically relevant phase in the spectrum of pulmonary vascular disease. Limited data exist regarding the prevalence of exercise PH by right heart catheterization (RHC) in scleroderma spectrum disorders (SSc-spectrum). Scientists from the UCLA, Los Angeles California identified 4 different groups of patients..(read more by clicking on the above headline)

   

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• Local Family’s Battle With Rare Lung Disease Brings Visit From Vanderbilt Research Doctor
• (The People's Tribune)

  ecently, Dr. Eric Austin, a research doctor, and Lisa Wheeler, a research nurse coordinator, from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., traveled to visit the family of Howard and Mildred Motley.
  Dr. Austin and Ms. Wheeler are researching the rare lung disease, Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PPAH). Since multiple members of the Motley family have been diagnosed with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, they were asked to participate in the research study.
  The family members affected are: Howard Motley, his daughters, Kim Lathrop and Shelia White and his grandchildren, Matthew White, Racheal White and Cristin White, who passed away in 1994 from the disease. Having this many people affected in one family is very uncommon. ...
   

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• August 23, 2010
• Why Immunizations Don’t End with Childhood
• (Newswire)

  Most of us think that immunizations end with childhood. We get the shots, and then we’re protected for life, right? Not so.

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• August 22, 2010
• Statistics in Drug Advertising: What They Reveal and What They Hide : Conclusion
• (Medscape)

  The literature reviewed here supports the contention made in the Introduction that pharmaceutical companies misuse statistics in their advertisements to present their products in a favourable light. Except in Canada, they almost never use ARRs or number need to treat, they omit confidence intervals and information about the power of studies they cite and they cite research that often has methodological problems. Magazine and television DTC advertisements also use statistics in a misleading manner although this form of advertising has not been as well studied as medical journal advertisements.

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• Oral Immunotherapy with Inactivated Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Reduces Severity of Acute Exacerbations in Severe COPD
• (Medscape)

  Acute exacerbations of COPD reflect in part an inappropriate host response to abnormal bacterial colonization. Orally administered inactivated nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) can drive a specific T-cell response that by promoting intrabronchial phagocytosis down-regulates bronchus inflammation.

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• Preventive Health Services for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients: Whose Job is it?
• (Medscape)

  Apropos of the article about preventive health care for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in this issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy, we offer some thoughts about how best to delineate the roles of the specialist (rheumatologist) and the generalist in the provision of services to these patients. Even in the best circumstances, these services are now provided at a rate that is less than optimal. We also offer a point about empowering patients to become vigilant about their own care.

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• August 21, 2010
• The Way Toward Lung Regeneration?
• (Medscape)

  Basic scientists at Yale have made important steps toward lung regeneration. In essence, they stripped rat lungs of all cells, leaving just the connective tissue matrix. This acellular "scaffold," with its ghostly outline of airways, parenchyma, and vascular structures, was then "seeded" with cultured epithelial and endothelial cells derived from rodent stem cells. Remarkably, the various cell types "knew" where to home in on, and they began to settle and repopulate the skeletal matrix. The resulting organ had mechanical properties similar to those of native lungs. Moreover, when implanted in rats in vivo, the organs were able to participate in gas exchange for up to 120 minutes.

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• Rheumatoid Arthritis and Interstitial Lung Disease
• (Medscape)

  Although RA is defined as a symmetrical inflammatory arthropathy, a wide variety of extra-articular manifestations are seen in patients with RA. The pleuropulmonary manifestations of RA encompass airway diseases (e.g. bronchiolitis obliterans), pleural diseases (e.g. pleuritis with or without effusion) and parenchymal pulmonary diseases.  Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is associated with RA (RA-ILD), but the prevalence, incidence and natural history are not well defined. The prevalence of ILD in RA depends on the population selected for study (mild vs severe disease) and the methods applied for its detection (clinical, physiological, radiological or pathological). The paper by Koduri et al. in this issue of Rheumatology sheds light on the incidence and the natural history of RA-ILD.

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• August 19, 2010
•  Give, and let live
• (THE TELEGRAM. COM)

  There’s a woman in Ontario whose lungs don’t work. Disease has left her with less than 10 per cent capacity.

  She breathes only with the aid of an oxygen tank. She rarely leaves the house.

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•  Size and gender matter for heart transplants
• (VANCOUVERSUN .COM)

  
  When it comes to heart transplants, size and gender are major factors, a study on survival rates after such surgery shows.

  The 20-year German study on 1,000 transplants showed that men who receive donor hearts from women have worse survival rates than women receiving male hearts
   

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• August 18, 2010
•  Hospital wants state to pay for transplants
• (THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD)

  ONE of Sydney's biggest hospitals is more than $5 million in debt because the state government has refused to fund its world-renowned heart transplant program - even though the country's three other transplant units are all government funded

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• August 17, 2010
• Highly Targeted T-cell Therapy Destroys Lung and Bone Marrow Tumors in Mice
• (MED GADGET .COM)

  Immune-cell therapy relies on modifying a patient's own T-cells to attack a specific tumor. The problem is delivering enough T-cells to their target. To overcome this issue, MIT scientists managed to encapsulate within special pods interleukins, drugs that promote proliferation of new T-cells, and attach these vehicles onto the backs of tumor hunting T-cells

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• Lung Stem Cells Vital to Lung Repair Associated With Poor Cancer Prognosis When Found in Tumor
• (SCIENCE DAILY .COM)

  ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2010) — Adult stem cells that are vital for airway repair in the lung but that persist in areas where pre-cancerous lesions are found are associated with a poor prognosis in patients who develop cancer, even those with early stage disease, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found

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• August 16, 2010
•  Pharmaceutical Strategies Group Releases Latest Research on Controlling Specialty Drug Costs
• (EARTH TIMES .ORG)
      

   

  [r

  PLANO, TX -- 08/16/10 -- Pharmaceutical Strategies Group (PSG) announced today the release of a whitepaper detailing strategies for employee plan sponsors, health plans, and other organizations to effectively manage utilization and control the costs of specialty drugs

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•  Life-saving medical breakthrough in Australian-first operation
• (HERALD SUN .COM.AU)

  A man has become the country's first person to have an artificial heart implanted to keep him alive.   Doctors gave Angelo Tigano only two weeks to live at the start of this month.

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• August 14, 2010
• Experts Predict 'Normal' H1N1 Flu Season This Year
• (Health Day News)

  Despite the current lull in H1N1 influenza activity, experts say it's likely that the Northern Hemisphere will see a new, but still mild, wave of the virus this flu season.

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• August 13, 2010
• Generics As Good As Costly Blood Pressure Meds, Study Finds
• (Health Day News)

  Costly, brand-name blood pressure-lowering drugs are no better at preventing cardiovascular disease than older, generic diuretics, reveals long-term data from a large study.

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• When the Doctor Doesn’t Look Like You
• (New York Times Blog)

  One night during my training, over dinner in the hospital cafeteria, a fellow resident and I had a discussion about the situation of one of our professors. Known for his blistering teaching sessions, this senior surgeon possessed the uncanny ability to sniff out lapses in memory or judgment among doctors-in-training. Early on in my internship ...

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• Primary care doctors are in retreat
• (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

  Where have all the primary care doctors gone? And more importantly, how can we get more of them?

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• August 12, 2010
• Potential treatment for pulmonary hypertension discovered
• (Sify)

  Researchers at University of Alberta have discovered potential treatment for a deadly disease called pulmonary hypertension.

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• Health Buzz: New Superbug Could Make Worldwide Debut
• (U.S. News & World Report)

  A new gene that can morph any bacterium into an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" has appeared in British hospitals, and scientists fear it could soon appear worldwide. New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1, has been identified in about 50 people who returned to the United Kingdom after having surgery in India or Pakistan, British scientists reported Wednesday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases. The gene, which exists in bacteria like E. coli, causes resistance to even the most ...

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• Nitric Oxide System Recalled for Potential Leakage
• (MedScape)

  Ikaria is voluntarily recalling its system for administering nitric oxide gas (Inomax DS drug delivery system) because a pressure switch could leak, endangering patient care.

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• August 11, 2010
• Remote Monitoring Benefit Affirmed in Heart Failure
• (Med Page Today)

  Keeping an eye on heart failure patients with remote monitoring technology between visits can improve outcomes, according to a Cochrane review.

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• MRSA Infections Decline in Hospitals
• (WebMD)

  There has been a dramatic decline in hospital-acquired and other health care-related MRSA infections, the CDC reports.

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• August 10, 2010
• Danger Lurking in Some Dietary Supplements?
• (Web MD)

  A dozen ingredients commonly found in dietary supplements should be avoided, according to a new report, because they are linked to cancer, coma, kidney and liver damage, heart problems, and death.

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• Ikaria Recalls INOMAX DS Drug-Delivery System
• (EARTH TIMES .ORG)

  CLINTON, N.J., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Ikaria, Inc. announced today that its INOMAX® DS drug-delivery systems in the United States are being voluntarily recalled due to the potential failure of a pressure switch which may have an impact on the administration of INOMAX® (nitric oxide) for inhalation to patients.

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• The Health Benefits of Apples
• (Health News Digest)

  Make healthy food choices and ensure you are obtaining the necessary servings of fruit a day! The average person should aim for two cups of fruit every day as your daily serving, but this depends on your age, health needs and unique preferences according to Tree Top’s nutritionist Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD, LDN. There are many different options to fill your day’s ...

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• Woman whose lungs collapsed 15 TIMES battles back from brink to win gold at European meet
• (DAILY MAIL .CO .UK)

  A former fitness instructor who defied death after a one-in-a-million lung disease put her in a coma, has gone on to win gold at an international sports event. 

  Justine Laymond battled backfrom the brink after her lungs collapsed 15 TIMES.
  
  
   

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• August 9, 2010
• Some Evidence Vitamin D Might Fight Respiratory Infections
• (Reuters Health)

  A daily vitamin D supplement may help young men enjoy more sick-free days during cold and flu season, a small study suggests.

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•  FDA Stops Stem Cell Treatments in USA
• (ABOUT.COM)

  Regenerative Science Inc., a US based clinic in Colorado issued a press release yesterday stating that the FDA has ordered them to stop treating patients with their own adult stem cells, a practice that the clinic says helps patients avoid other methods of invasive, orthopedic surgery. And, while the FDA is busy banning stem cell research in the USA, many patients with COPD and other health conditions are forced to go to other countries to get treatment, a practice that has many patients angry and frustrated.

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• August 7, 2010
• FDA Approves Flu Shot With H1N1 Protection for 2010-2011 Season
• (MedScape)

  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved vaccines for the 2010 to 2011 flu season that protect against 3 strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 pandemic swine flu virus.

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• Obese Patients Have Better Atrial Fibrillation Outcomes
• (MedScape)

  For reasons that remain unclear, obese patients with atrial fibrillation have better outcomes than nonobese patients, according to a report in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

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• August 6, 2010
• For Blood Pressure, Can You Be Fit But Fat?
• (Reuters)

  If you're trying to bring your blood pressure to healthy levels, a new study suggests that how much you weigh is more important than how fit you are...

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• Breathing Problems from Gulf Oil
• (New York Times)

  Survey Finds Broad Anxiety Among Gulf Residents

  When it comes to getting information about the BP oil spill, Gulf Coast residents trust Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana more than Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, and they trust Mr. Barbour more than President Obama.

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• August 5, 2010
• Failing Heart Linked to Failing Brain
• (Med Page Today)

  Poor cardiac output, even at the low end of normal, may accelerate the brain volume losses that come with age, researchers said

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• August 4, 2010
•  Chronically ill New Zealanders better served than Australians
• (New Zealand Doctor Online)

  New Zealand's Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) better position the country to deal with the fact most chronically ill New Zealanders suffer from multiple illnesses, a team of researchers led by Dr Clive Aspin at the University of Sydney has found.

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• Obesity Rates Keep Rising, Troubling Health Officials
• (New York Times)

  Americans are continuing to get fatter and fatter, with obesity rates reaching 30 percent or more in nine states last year, as opposed to only three states in 2007, health officials reported on Tuesday.

•