Chest
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Comparative Study
Obstructive Lung Disease in Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic Whites: an Analysis of Diagnosis and Survival in the NHANES III Follow-up Study.
Although obstructive lung disease (OLD), which includes COPD, affects all the populations, Hispanics seem to be protected against COPD development and progression. Whether this advantage translates into a survival benefit for this population is unknown. We aimed to determine the risk for OLD in Mexican Americans, the largest US Hispanic subgroup, compared with non-Hispanic whites and to assess all-cause mortality in subjects with OLD. ⋯ Although Mexican Americans appear to have lower risk for OLD, subjects of this ethnicity with OLD do not seem to have a survival advantage.
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Pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis (PCH) is a rare disease of capillary proliferation of unknown cause and with a high mortality. Families with multiple affected individuals with PCH suggest a heritable cause although the genetic etiology remains unknown. ⋯ Mutations in EIF2AK4 are likely to cause autosomal-recessive PCH in familial and some nonfamilial cases.
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The diagnosis of COPD is made by objectively demonstrating nonreversible airflow obstruction of the lungs. Despite this, rates of pulmonary function testing (PFT) for diagnosis remain low. It is still not known why testing is underused. ⋯ Only about one-third of individuals with COPD in Ontario, Canada, received PFT to confirm their diagnosis; age, comorbidity, and physician factors appear to influence its use. Targeted strategies that address these factors could increase the rate of appropriate testing of people with suspected COPD and improve quality of COPD care.
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Comparative Study
Respiratory symptom perception differs in obese women with strong or mild breathlessness during constant load exercise.
During constant-load exercise, some otherwise healthy obese women report substantially more dyspnea on exertion (DOE) than do others. The objective of this study was to investigate whether qualitative differences exist between the sensations of dyspnea felt by these women. ⋯ Not only is the intensity of dyspnea significantly different between the +DOE and the -DOE groups, but so are the self-reported qualitative aspects of their dyspnea. Women in the +DOE group reported an increased sensation of the work of breathing relative to women in the -DOE group, which may be associated with the elevated RPB.