Chest
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OSA is a highly prevalent condition that is associated with a wide range of long-term morbidities including metabolic, cardiovascular, and cognitive alterations, possibly via activation of systemic inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways. Implementation of positive airway pressure (PAP) is the first-line treatment for OSA, as well as for obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), its most severe phenotype. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying OHS-induced morbidities and their response to PAP treatment remain unclear, and could be mediated, in part, by OSA-induced epigenetic changes. ⋯ Our work provides initial evidence of epigenetic regulation particularly involving metabolic pathways in patients with OHS who are responsive to PAP treatment.
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To date, there are no studies that have examined the responsiveness of the Anxiety Inventory for Respiratory disease (AIR) scale to any intervention in patients with COPD. We examined the responsiveness of the AIR scale in an 8-week pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program. ⋯ The AIR scale is sensitive to change following PR in patients with COPD and can be used in future studies evaluating interventions that reduce anxiety in this disease.
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Review
SmokeHaz: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the effects of smoking on respiratory health.
Smoking tobacco increases the risk of respiratory disease in adults and children, but communicating the magnitude of these effects in a scientific manner that is accessible and usable by the public and policymakers presents a challenge. We have therefore summarized scientific data on the impact of smoking on respiratory diseases to provide the content for a unique resource, SmokeHaz. ⋯ These findings have been translated into easily digestible content and published on the SmokeHaz website.
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Patients who are critically ill and hospitalized often require invasive procedures as a part of their medical care. Each procedure carries a unique set of risks and associated complications, but common to all of them is the risk of hemorrhage. ⋯ In this article, the authors will discuss the risk factors for bleeding complications from each of these procedures and methods to minimize risk. Physicians often correct coagulopathy prior to procedures to decrease bleeding risk, but there is minimal evidence to support this practice.