News tagged with 'COPD'

Research shows that gender makes women more vulnerable to the effects of smoking than previously known. Lung damage hits women at an earlier age and after less time smoking, dispelling the myth that smoking a few cigarettes is safer.   

What if, a urine test could detect smokers at highest risk for developing lung cancer? While it may be years before such a test is made available, if it works, urine-screening may give added motivation to some smokers that have not been able to kick the habit.

Scientists find a new drug may help protect mice exposed to cigarette smoke from developing chronic lung disease, or COPD, raising hope for treatment in humans. COPD is the 4th largest killer, affecting as many as 210 million people worldwide.

On Thursday, an FDA panel of experts will weigh whether to allow certain drugs to continue to be marketed for asthma treatment in adults and children amid lingering concerns that the products increase the risk of asthma-related deaths and side effects.

The continued use of four popular asthma drugs, including SereVent, increases risk of asthma-related deaths and asthma attacks, according to two federal drug officials. But not all regulators universally agree. This week the agency will convene a committee of experts to help reach an agreement.

The number of Americans who smoke cigarettes has fallen below 20 percent, for the first time since the mid-1960s, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While this is good news, deaths related to cigarette smoking are still on the rise.

Commonly prescribed drugs used for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases the risk of deadly heart problems, according to a new study. But the drugs' marketers sharply disagree.

People may tend to think of smoking as an individual habit, but people tend to smoke and quit in clusters of three, researchers find from this 30-year-old study.  Looking to your social network will help you quit.

Capping 14 years of litigation, a Miami-Dade judge has ruled that tens of thousands of smokers can share in a $600 million fund set up to compensate those injured by cigarettes. The fund will be distributed regardless of the severity of injury as the judge ruled trying individual cases would be too lengthy.