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.

If a patient develops respiratory problems after taking analgesics, this indicates that the active substances are poorly tolerated. This is pointed out by Prof. Hanns-Wolf Baenkler, Erlangen University Medical School, in the current edition of the Deutsches Дrzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105(8): 137–42).

Exposure to traffic pollution may increase respiratory problems and reduce lung volumes in children with asthma, according to researchers who studied the effects of road and traffic density on children’s lung function and respiratory symptoms in the border town of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

The same kind of learning that allows humans to get used to a subtle touch or persistent odor may also help human vital signs adapt to medical interventions such as mechanical ventilation.

MIT researchers have found that the body's innate ability to adapt to recurring stimuli could be leveraged to design more effective and less costly artificial respirators. The new approach could minimize the need for the induced sedation or paralysis currently necessary for some patients on mechanical ventilation.

Findings released today by the Health Department shed new light on the health effects of exposure to dust and debris among workers who responded to the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001. The data, drawn from the World Trade Center Health Registry, show that 3.6% of the 25,000 rescue and recovery workers enrolled in the Registry report developing asthma after working at the site.

Children of smokers who don't show any signs of respiratory problems may still be experiencing damaging changes in their airways that could lead to lung disease later in life, according to a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Sunday, May 20.