In a proof-of-concept experiment, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully used microscopic man-made particles to predict the severity of patients’ chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by measuring how quickly the particles move through mucus samples. The technique, say the researchers, could eventually help doctors deliver more effective treatments sooner.
At least 17 large fires are burning across California, and dozens more throughout other Western states, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres, sending toxic pollutants into the air and contaminating water supplies. The air quality in certain areas — particularly near California's massive Mendocino Complex Fire in the northern part of the state — is among the worst officials have ever seen.
New Englanders can get a heads’ up on smoggy conditions that may affect their health with some free resources being offered by the EPA and their states.
The warm weather up ahead brings with it an increased risk of ground-level ozone and fine particle air pollution (when combined, often referred to as smog).
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has begun offering a series of free, confidential health screenings to coal miners as part of the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP). The screenings are intended to provide early detection of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung, a serious but preventable occupational lung disease in coal miners caused by breathing respirable coal mine dust.
In modern society, occupational asthma is the most frequently occurring work-related respiratory disease. Occupational asthma is defined as a form of asthma that is generally caused by immunological sensitisation to a (specific) agent inhaled at work. A large – and growing – number of causative agents have been identified.
Adults with asthma are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease, yet according to a new CDC study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, just 54 percent of adults with work-related asthma—asthma triggered by an exposure at work—have been vaccinated against the infection.
More than 20 million U.S. workers are exposed to substances that can cause airway disease, according to NIOSH. Nearly 30 percent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and adult asthma cases may be attributable to occupational exposure. Nearly nine million workers are occupationally-exposed to known sensitizers and irritants associated with asthma, according to NIOSH.
Lung function is a predictor of mortality in the general population, as well as in patients with lung disease, even in those who have never smoked. Maintaining lung function is an important goal in the prevention of chronic respiratory diseases and a major public health objective; yet, smoking cessation remains the main target to reduce the burden of these diseases.
"First, EPA proposed to revoke the Clean Power Plan, and now they have signaled their intention to replace the Plan with far weaker standards. The Clean Power Plan would have prevented up to 90,000 childhood asthma attacks and 4,500 premature deaths every year once fully implemented. Instead of implementing these lifesaving standards, EPA is moving toward...
