More often than not, risk factors for and development rates of cardiovascular diseases vary according to race and ethnicity, and pulmonary arterial hypertension due to systemic sclerosis is no exception. A study from Johns Hopkins University, appearing in the journal European Respiratory Journal, identified the…

A recent blog article entitled, “How High Is too High – Altitude and PAH” from pulmonology specialist Jeremy P. Feldman, published on the blog Pulmonary Hypertension R.N. is encouraging patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension to consult their physicians prior to airplane travel and exposure to high altitudes, noting that physicians can help…

Pulmonary hypertension can be a devastating disease, especially when it impacts infants and children. A new study in Pediatrics from Nagasaki University and Nagasaki University Hospital in Japan and Khanh Hoa General Hospital and Health Service in Vietnam found high rates of mortality from pulmonary hypertension in…

As new medications for pulmonary hypertension are approved and marketed, it is important to evaluate their efficacy, both absolutely and relative to tried-and-true products. Macitentan, marketed under the name Opsumit by Actelion, is approved to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension patients under the World Health Organization classification of…

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) recently nominated Stephen L. White as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the organization, after years of his involvement in the PHA’s ongoing national effort to prevent and cure pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a recent press release. He already serves as chair of…

Inhalation of a small molecule known as PK10453, formally known as (R-phenyl)pyrazin-R-methylnicotinamide, prevented pulmonary arterial hypertension progression in rats who were predisposed for developing pulmonary hypertension. Researchers under the leadership of Dr. Lawrence Zisman at Bassett Medical Center and other institutes in New York and Minnesota published their new…

As any scleroderma patient knows, the disease has no cure and no effective treatments exist. The main goal of current treatments is reducing inflammation which, often times, is not enough to provide relief to patients, especially those who have developed pulmonary hypertension as a result of thickened pulmonary arteries.

Scleroderma patients, who are sometimes affected by pulmonary hypertension, are becoming routinely treated with stem cell transplants. Dr. Dinesh Khanna, at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology, previewed the results of the Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation International Scerloderma…

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) has granted 13 awards to projects led by committed community activists for their work in raising awareness for pulmonary hypertension (PH).  Tom Lantos Innovation in Community Service Awards are granted by the association in order to create opportunities within the PH community as well…

Any newly-diagnosed pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patient could probably testify to the hardships of having the disease, and new research provides concrete evidence of a substantial burden. More than half of these patients are hospitalized within three years of their diagnosis. Lead author Charles Burger, MD, from the Mayo…

Forced vital capacity, or FVC, is defined as the amount of air that can be forcibly exhaled from the lungs after taking the deepest breath possible. Patients suffering from systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma (a chronic systemic autoimmune disease) often undergo this type of spirometry testing to assess their status of…

A team of over twenty researchers recently found that patients with systemic sclerosis are at high risk to develop pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The study, published in the Seminars in Arthritis & Rheumatism, set out to understand the natural history of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in systemic sclerosis (Ssc),…