Note: This is the third article in a series written in collaboration with respiratory therapist Mark W. Mangus Sr., RRT, RPFT, FAARC, and oxygen expert Ryan Diesem. This segment also includes contributions from Donna Frownfelter, PT, DPT, MA, CCS, RRT, FCCP, and Marion Mackles, PT, BS, LMT. The first two…
Analysis of gas exhaled in differing positions, like sitting or laying flat, could be a noninvasive and simple alternative to right heart catheterization in evaluating and managing people with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a study suggests. The study, “Usefulness of ventilatory gas analysis for the non-invasive…
Screening newborns for genetic diseases with treatments that can prevent crippling or deadly progression, especially for rare disorders, has a ways to go in the United States. No state today tests for all 35 disorders recommended under a federal screening panel, and even in those that come close, rare…
The vasodilator Adempas (riociguat) increases the ability of endothelial progenitor cells to halt vascular remodeling and enhance formation of new blood vessels in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), according to a new in vitro (in the lab) study. This may be particularly helpful for CTEPH patients…
Oklahoma suffers more tornadoes than any other state, has the highest per-capita rate of women in U.S. prisons, ranks second in the number of teen births per 100,000 teenage girls, and has the nation’s third-highest rate of uninsured residents — with 13.9% of all Oklahomans lacking health coverage. As if…
While physicians worldwide are conducting multi-parametric risk assessments to evaluate pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), they are not doing so to the extent recommended by current guidelines, results from an international survey show. The survey found that PAH evaluations in clinical practice were not performed to the levels recommended by…
Treatment with nintedanib lowered lung blood pressure in a rat model of pulmonary arterial hypertension by preventing cells of blood vessel walls from changing identity, and by inhibiting smooth muscle cells from growing excessively, a study has found. The study, “Nintedanib ameliorates experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension via inhibition…
The heart rhythm of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) has limited ability to adjust to changes, compared to unaffected people used as controls in a new pilot study. The findings also revealed that assessing heart rhythm complexity (HRC) parameters may improve the ability to predict PH. The research, “…
Specific biomarkers are present in higher levels in the blood of people with pulmonary hypertension (PH), and could be used to aid in diagnosis, a study says. Titled “Analysis of Novel Cardiovascular Biomarkers in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension (PH),” the study was published in the journal …
An anti-inflammatory diet with high amounts of protein, fish oil, the amino acid leucine, and oligosaccharides reduced changes in heart and skeletal muscle in a female mice model of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a study says. The findings of the study, “Anti-inflammatory nutrition with high protein attenuates…
Interleukin-17 (IL-17), a proinflammatory protein, appears to play important roles in the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH), a common and potentially life-threatening condition in people with chronic lung diseases, an early study suggests. Lung tissue of patients with HPH show increased IL-17 levels, and preventing its production or…
A tiny RNA molecule known as microRNA-410 (miR-410) was seen to slow the proliferation of endothelial cells in the lung and ease pulmonary vascular remodeling in a mouse model of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). These findings suggest that raising miR-410 levels in the lung may offer a way of…
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