Women in Central Mexico who used a vented stove instead of the traditional indoor open fire, experienced improved respiratory health on par with a pack-a-day smoker kicking the habit, according to a recent study.

A protein in influenza virus that helps it multiply also damages lung epithelial cells, causing fluid buildup in the lungs, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Southern Research Institute. Publishing online this week in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the researchers say the findings give new insight into how flu attacks the lungs and provides targets for new treatments.

There's more bad news for people who carry excess weight around their waists: Not only is abdominal obesity associated with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health problems collectively known as "metabolic syndrome," a new study has found that a high waist circumference is strongly associated with decreased lung function—independent of smoking history, sex, body mass index (BMI) and other complicating factors.

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have identified a potential new avenue for altering lung development in the embryo which may help to improve the outcome for very premature babies.

Vitamin D is essential to good health but needs to be activated to function properly in the human body. Until recently, this activation was thought to happen primarily in the kidneys, but a new University of Iowa study finds that the activation step can also occur in lung airway cells.

A simple variation in a surgical technique developed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to reduce acute and chronic pain following lung surgery further reduces pain and helps return patients to normal activity quicker than the previous technique, according to a study published in the June issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

A new study shows that exposure to a chemical called diacetyl, a component of artificial butter flavoring, can be harmful to the nose and airways of mice.

Researchers involved in a large, multi-institutional study comparing the accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) in the characterization of lung nodules found that PET was far more reliable in detecting whether or not a nodule was malignant.

New York Methodist 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, minimally-invasive option for those suffering with advanced widespread emphysema.

A recent study using an animal model of lung transplants shows that chronic alcohol consumption by the donor promotes scarring and airway injury after transplantation.

For the first time, researchers have identified structural damage to the lungs caused by secondhand cigarette smoke.

Computer-aided detection combined with MDCT improves radiologists’ ability to detect solid lung nodules early enough for them to be treated without increasing interpretation time according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Hopital Pitie-Salpetriere in Paris, France.