Page 28 - Aruba Today

A28

SCIENCETuesday 26 January 2016

Implanted coils help some lung disease patients, study says

LINDSEY TANNER This photo depicts an X-ray of lungs following the PneumRx En- a Northwestern University Implanted coils and valves,
AP Medical Writer dobronchial Coil treatment procedure. A novel, minimally in- lung specialist who was in- another minimally inva-
CHICAGO (AP) — A nov- vasive way to treat severe breathing problems caused by lung volved in the U.S. study. sive treatment, are used
el, minimally invasive way disease showed modest but promising benefits in a small French “Every little increment of abroad but are consid-
to treat severe breathing study. something that could work ered experimental in the
problems caused by lung in COPD is significant. There United States.
disease showed modest (BTG PLC via AP) are a lot of people with this Results from the study were
but promising benefits in a disease,” Kalhan said. published recently in the
small French study. last month in preliminary re- provide real benefits for COPD, which includes Journal of the American
The technique involves in- sults from a U.S. study. a select group but won’t emphysema and chronic Medical Association.
serting several small metal The French results suggest work for many COPD pa- bronchitis, causes normally The French health ministry
alloy coils through a scope that coil treatment may tients, said Dr. Ravi Kalhan, elastic airways to stiffen paid for the study. Two of
into the lungs, aiming to and sometimes swell. It the researchers reported
tighten diseased tissue and affects 65 million people involvement in previous re-
open up healthy airways. worldwide, including at search funded by the coil
It’s among experimental least 15 million mostly older maker, along with travel
alternatives to major lung- Americans, and is a lead- and speaker fees.
reduction surgery for pa- ing cause of death and The study involved 100 pa-
tients with emphysema, a disability. tients randomly assigned
common feature of chron- Patients often have diffi- to receive usual care or
ic obstructive pulmonary culty climbing stairs, show- coil treatment at 10 hospi-
disease, or COPD. ering or even dressing with- tals in France.
The treatment helped out feeling out of breath. Coil patients each got
patients to walk further Usual treatment may in- about 20 of the devices.
and reduced symptoms clude inhaled medicine, The coils are a few inch-
including coughing and often steroids, exercise, es long outstretched but
breathlessness, the French breathing assistance with spring into a circular shape
researchers reported. The portable oxygen tanks, or in the lungs.
coil manufacturer, Lon- sometimes major surgery After six months, patients
don-based BTG PLC, an- to removed diseased lung were given a six-minute
nounced similar benefits tissue. walking test to see they
could walk at least 59
Drug industry, governments to combat superbugs yards (54 meters) farther
than they did at the start.
LINDA A. JOHNSON tic tests and nine indus- parasites and fungi, and scriptions and the stronger Only 18 coil patients
Associated Press try groups have signed a declining industry research microbes survive and mul- achieved the goal, but
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Doz- groundbreaking agree- in the field. A key factor tiply. Taking antibiotics for that was twice as many
ens of makers of medi- ment to work with govern- driving those problems is viruses and other nonbac- as in the usual treatment
cines and diagnostic tests ments and each other to the relatively low prices terial infections also con- group.
have joined together in an prevent and improve treat- infection-fighting medi- tributes to resistance. And At six months, coil patients
unprecedented effort to ment of drug-resistant in- cines bring, compared to widespread use of antibi- could walk on average 23
tackle “superbugs” — in- fections. The effort is sorely many drugs patients take otics to spur faster growth yards (21 meters) farther
fections that increasingly needed. Many common in- for years for chronic con- of livestock raised for food than the other group.
don’t respond to drugs and fections no longer respond ditions. Bacteria and other exacerbates the problem. Their scores on a question-
threaten millions of people to conventional drugs, microbes can naturally de- Meanwhile, in poor coun- naire about symptoms and
in countries rich and poor. mainly due to overuse of velop resistance to drugs, tries, many people can’t quality of life were also bet-
Altogether, 74 drugmak- antibiotics, few new drugs particularly when patients afford these medications ter than the other group,
ers, 11 makers of diagnos- to fight bacteria, viruses, don’t take all of their pre- and die unnecessarily.q although that wasn’t the
study’s main measure.q