Whether jogging, skiing or skating, enthusiastic exercisers don't let the frigid temperatures of winter keep them indoors. But for millions of Americans with asthma, the cold weather can literally stop them in their tracks. According to Dr.

The Lung Association was pleased today by the appointment of Leona Aglukkaq as Canada's new Minister of Health. At the same time, the Association thanked former Minister Tony Clement for his help over the past 2.5 years in advancing the lung health agenda in Canada.

Weill Cornell Medical College has today that it has received two $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grants will support innovative global health research projects: "Untimely Triggering of the Fusion Mechanism Used by Viruses for Entry: A New Antiviral Approach Using Engineered Microparticles," conducted by Dr. Anne Moscona, and "Senescent and Rejuvenated Mtb Subsets on Exit from Latency," conducted by Dr. Carl Nathan.

The average mortality rate of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is estimated to be 50.8 per 1,000,000 people per year. The mortality rate is now higher than recent mortality rates for a number of malignancies. Although IPF should no longer be considered a rare disease, there is no established treatment that definitely improves its outcome. Furthermore, about 10% of IPF causes a very rapid progression called "acute exacerbation".

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the five leading causes of death worldwide. It is characterised by an inflammatory response to inhaled fumes (mostly tobacco smoking) that leads, in the long term, to the loss of lung function, limiting airflow and causing shortness of breath. Patients affected by COPD often suffer episodes of worsening of symptoms called acute exacerbations, mostly caused by bacterial infections.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) announced that data from a three-year study of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) found that the inhaled corticosteroid in Advair Diskus 250/50, fluticasone propionate, did not show an adverse effect on bone mineral density (BMD) measured at the lumbar spine and total hip compared to salmeterol alone.

#7725 YOUNGER PATIENTS WITH LUNG CANCER HAVE BETTER SURVIVAL Lung cancer in younger patients may exhibit distinct clinical features than lung cancer in older patients, including better survival rates at each disease stage. Researchers from Stanford Cancer Center in California compared disease characteristics and survival of lung cancer patients aged 15 to 39 years at diagnosis with patients aged 40 years or over at diagnosis.

#6786 TOBACCO ABUSE BY US TROOPS IN IRAQ TWICE NATIONAL AVERAGE The prevalence of tobacco use by US military deployed to Iraq is more than twice the national average. Researcher Michael A. Wilson of the United States Navy surveyed 408 Marines and sailors deployed in Iraq to assess the prevalence of tobacco abuse and usage patterns related to service. Overall, 260 (64 percent) of the Marines and sailors surveyed used some form of tobacco.

Blood stored for 29 days or more, nearly 2 weeks less than the current standard for blood storage, is associated with a higher infection rate in patients who received transfusions with the blood.

Commenting on today's announcement, Håkan Björklund, Chief Executive Officer of Nycomed, said: "We are extremely encouraged by the positive results from our preliminary analysis of four phase III trials involving more than 4,500 patients. We believe Daxas has the potential to make a significant contribution to COPD management and will therefore be a great addition to Nycomed's product portfolio.