A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research details one novel mechanism of this risk: long-term oxygen depletion stimulates signals that promote tumor growth.
"There are probably other mechanisms driving lung cancer in COPD as well -- for example, inflammation is also very likely playing in -- but this paper shows that the hypoxic sensing pathway is specifically activated in these COPD lung cancer models and that this sensing pathway is to a large degree driving tumor growth," Miller says
Older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at greater risk for plaque formation in the carotid artery, the large artery in the neck that carries blood to the brain, according to a new study.Researchers in the Netherlands also found patients with this progressive lung condition are more likely to have vulnerable fatty plaques, which increase their risk for stroke.
It is well known that COPD patients run a higher risk of contracting respiratory infections. However, a new thesis shows that they are also at higher risk of other bacterial infections, such as tuberculosis (T
and pneumococcal and staphylococcal infections that can cause serious illness
Can acupuncture help with COPD?
According to Los Angeles Times / May 14, the new research has been published online Monday by Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers in Japan recruited 62 patients with COPD, a progressive disease that makes it hard for patients to breathe. Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing and tightness in the chest, according to this primer from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Study volunteers got either real acupuncture or fake acupuncture once a week for 12 weeks. Volunteers didn’t know whether they got the treatment or the placebo. All of the patients continued with their regular medication during the course of the study.
The researchers also found that the volunteers who got real acupuncture had significant improvement exercise capacity as measured by something called the MRC score and a six-minute walk test, among other metrics. In addition, they regained weight they had lost as a result of the disease.
The patients in the real acupuncture group reported some cases of pain at the needle site and subcutaneous hemorrhage (there were no such cases among those who got sham acupuncture). The research team called these “minor reactions” and reported that patients recovered quickly.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a serious disease constituting a major threat to public health. Current popularity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in treating COPD implies its potential advantage in improving symptoms, reducing the frequency of acute exacerbation and improving the patients' quality of life.
Study lead Dr Masao Suzuki, lecturer in respiratory medicine at Kyoto University, said: ‘Our results are comparable with standard care such as rehabilitation or exercise, where the improvement in Borg scale in previous research has been found to be 1.1 to 3.6U.'
