An unusually high incidence of lung disease has been diagnosed in workers at popcorn factories. Researchers are focusing on diacetyl, the ingredient which is largely responsible for the odor and flavor of the butter in popcorn, according to an article published by SAGE in the current issue of Toxicologic Pathology.

A less traumatic way of delivering surfactant, a lung lubricant that premature babies need to help them breathe, could reduce the incidence of respiratory problems they’ll have later, Medical College of Georgia physicians say.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed innovative technology which illuminates a person´s lungs and helps clinicians identify if they are functioning correctly. The new technology could result in earlier diagnosis of emphysema and smoking related damage, as well as other lung conditions and diseases.

Cells lining the mouth reflect the molecular damage that smoking does to the lining of the lungs, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report today at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc), also known as scleroderma, is characterized by the formation of fibrosis, or scar tissue, on internal organs as well as the skin. Beyond its disfiguring symptoms, SSc is associated with a high rate of deadly lung disease. Pulmonary fibrosis strikes at least one-third of SSc sufferers, and kills 30 percent within 10 years.

Annual flu vaccinations are highly effective at preventing acute respiratory illness and making sure that existing breathing problems don’t get any worse, according to research published in the April issue of IJCP, the UK-based International Journal of Clinical Practice.

Dry airways may not only play a central role in the development of the in-herited lung disease cystic fibrosis, but also in much more common ac-quired chronic lung diseases such as asthma and smoker’s lung, the ciga-rette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Workers exposed to low levels of an asbestos-like mineral from Montana more than two decades ago are at an increased risk for lung disease today, according to research from the University of Cincinnati (UC).

Men and women who worked in a plant that processed vermiculite tainted with asbestos-like fibers that originated from a mine in Libby, Montana, show high prevalence of scarring and thickening of the membrane that lines the chest wall some 25 years after the plant stopped using the material—even those who were exposed at or below current legal levels.

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital today announced the start of the EASE (Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema) Trial, an international, multi-center clinical trial to explore an investigational treatment that may offer a significant new option for those suffering with advanced emphysema.

A new study by researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine may change current thinking about how best to treat patients in respiratory distress in hospital intensive care units.

Researchers at Peoria Pulmonary Associates today announced the start of the EASE (Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema) Trial, an international, multi-center clinical trial to explore an investigational procedure for advanced widespread emphysema/COPD. Conducted at Methodist Medical Center, the study focuses on a procedure called airway bypass.