| OU study finds statins lows lung damage in smokers | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 11:02:34 PM by Blog57 Team | | SALT LAKE CITY Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center say a drug currently used to control cholesterol shows promise in reducing lung damage in smokers. Doctor Walid Younis (wah-LEED' U'-nis) says the study is the first to show statin drugs may decrease the rate of lung damage in both smokers and former smokers. He says until now no medication has been proven to reduce smoking-induced lung damage. Younis presented the findings in Salt Lake City at the annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians. Younis warns though that while long-term statin therapy may slow down or reduce the progression of lung diseases they do not prevent smokers from getting lung cancer. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.... | |
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| | | Allentown sets example by urging public smoking ban | | Posted Saturday, September 30, 2006 12:57:41 PM by Blog57 Team | | On Sept. 20, Allentown City Council approved a resolution urging the state of Pennsylvania to enact a statewide ban on smoking in public places. This is a positive move for Allentown. We hope the state, and other cities across the commonwealth are paying attention. As employees of the American Lung Association for nearly two years, we hear and see the fallout from second-hand smoke every day. We see it in young children, middle-aged women and senior citizens. Many of the people we serve suffer from lung diseases that are directly caused by or affected by secondhand smoke. Lung disease ? including lung cancer, emphysema and asthma ? is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Second-hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 69 known carcinogens, and is a proven cause of heart disease, lung cancer, asthma and many other serious diseases.... | |
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| | | Hope balanced against cost | | Posted Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:57:52 AM by Blog57 Team | | Dying of lung cancer, Carolyn Hobbs tried a new biotechnology drug that produced an unanticipated side effect: acute sticker shock. She was waiting for her second treatment in a hospital near Denver less than two years ago when someone from the business office marched in. Her share, she was told, would cost more than $18,000, because her insurer didn't consider it a treatment for her type of cancer. How to decide? In her six decades, she had shared in a long marriage, raised three children, worked in a nursing home, painted as a hobby — and wasn't ready to leave it all behind. But she was also a careful spender who sometimes returned new clothes to the store, deciding she didn't really need them. Maybe this new drug, Erbitux, could extend her life by a small fraction, but she wouldn't be cured.... | |
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| | | EPA tests show excessive levels of asbestos near processing plant | | Posted Friday, July 14, 2006 1:03:00 AM by Blog57 Team | | Tests by the Environmental Protection Agency found elevated levels of asbestos in the soil near an old vermiculite processing plant where the city is building a hike-and-bike trail along the San Antonio River. Four of 20 samples drawn from the soil near the old Big Tex Grain Co. site showed detectable levels of asbestos, and two of those samples were above levels the EPA considers safe, according to test results released Wednesday. The city already has told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality it will remove the contaminated soil from one of the tested areas, which is next to the trail it's building, said David Newman, the city's environmental services manager. The second site is between two buildings away from the trail, in an area that's not being disturbed by the building project, Newman said.... | |
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