Smoking / Lung / Asthma

More than 1 billion people worldwide smoke tobacco regularly, and it's estimated that more than 20 million Americans have the lung disease asthma. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year due to lung-related diseases.

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine trains pulmonary physicians, physician-scientists and pre- and postdoctoral basic scientists in physiology, cell biology, and molecular biology of the respiratory system.

The Division enjoys extensive support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the form of numerous individual research grants, program project and SCOR grants, and an institutional training grant that supports graduate students and Ph.D. and M.D. postdoctoral fellows.

The clinical facilities of the affiliated hospital system — Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital, both of BJC HealthCare — together with more than 14,000 square feet of research space and a stimulating intellectual environment, provide an ideal setting in which to obtain training in diagnosis and treatment of patients with lung disease and in the basic mechanisms of lung function.

The Division is responsible for a full spectrum of patients with pulmonary disorders. Specific centers of excellence now include asthma, cystic fibrosis, lung transplantation, critical care medicine, pulmonary vascular disease, pulmonary emphysema, sleep disorders and many more.

The stories and experts below provide can more information pertaining to smoking, asthma and lung disease.

Faculty Experts:

Showing 3 Smoking / Lung / Asthma Experts.

Ramaswamy Govindan Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medical Oncology Govindan is developing novel Phase II studies for patients with lung cancer and esophageal cancer. He is in the process of developing collaborative studies predicting chemoresponsiveness in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. In addition, he is working with physicians from the Departments of ... Expertise: clinical trials for cancer, Lung cancer, medical oncology, esophageal cancer Media assistance: (314) 286-0141 / ericsong@wustl.edu

Michael Holtzman Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine Holtzman Holtzman is renowned for his research into the underlying cause of asthma, and has proposed a new model of the disease that incorporates the role of a viral response early in life. Expertise: airway diseases, allergies, asthma, pulmonary disease, respiratory disease, viral response Media assistance: (314) 286-0141 / ericsong@wustl.edu

H. James Wedner Professor of Medicine Wedner is known for his clinical treatment and prevention of asthma and allergies. Expertise: allergies, Asthma, mold allergy, cat dander, animal allergy, pet allergy, pet dander Media assistance: (314) 286-0110 / jdryden@wustl.edu

Showing 3 Smoking / Lung / Asthma Experts.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Research network School of Medicine to lead international pediatric lung transplant research trials March 14, 2008 -- The School of Medicine has received a five-year, $3.9 million grant to lead an international research effort designed to improve outcomes for children undergoing lung transplants. Lung-transplant patients are subject to more frequent infections, organ rejection and other complications than patients with other transplanted organs.

Detecting early and accurately Gene chips used to distinguish ventilator-associated pneumonia from underlying critical illness Feb. 12, 2008 -- Critically ill patients who need a ventilator to breathe face a high risk of pneumonia. The lung infection, however, is exceedingly difficult to diagnose because a patient's underlying condition often skews laboratory test results and masks pneumonia's symptoms - a reality that can delay appropriate antibiotic treatment. Using gene chip technology, scientists at the School of Medicine demonstrate for the first time they can distinguish pneumonia associated with ventilator use from other serious illnesses.

Preventing asthma Blocking effects of viral infections may prevent asthma in young children Nov. 6, 2007 -- Normal lung air passage (left) and asthmatic lung air passage after viral infection Babies who get severe respiratory viral infections are much more likely to suffer from asthma as they get older. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have pinpointed a key step in the development of asthma in mice after a severe respiratory infection. They suggest that medications designed to interfere with this mechanism could potentially prevent many cases of childhood asthma.

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Related News Clips:

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Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction Associated Press and 256 others April 3, 2008 -- The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer. This finding could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit. "This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said WUSTL psychiatry professor Laura Bierut, a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing."

Why smoking behind the bike sheds could harm your grades New Scientist (UK) Jan. 8, 2008 -- Parents may now have another reason to worry about their children smoking. Nicotine may cause the teenage brain to develop abnormally, resulting in changes to the structure of white matter — the neural tissue through which signals are relayed. WUSTL School of Medicine's Richard Todd comments.

Smoking link to hearing problems BBC News online and 3 others Jan. 3, 2008 -- Teenagers who smoke, or whose mother smoked in pregnancy, are at higher risk of hearing problems and understanding what is being said, a Yale University study says. WUSTL psychiatry professor Richard Todd comments.

Smoking may boost problem drinking in teens The Washington Post and 56 others Nov. 29, 2006 -- Teenage smokers face a greater risk of developing alcohol addiction than nonsmokers who drink the same amount, according to a new WUSTL study that found one habit could lead to the other. WUSTL psychiatry professor Richard Grucza, who led the study, comments.

Smoking weakens tendon-to-bone healing United Press International and 1 others Oct. 19, 2006 -- WUSTL researchers led by orthopaedic surgery professor Leesa Galatz say exposure to nicotine delays tendon-to-bone healing, suggesting the cause of failure of rotator-cuff repair following surgery, according to the study published in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.