For the nearly 2 million U.S. workers exposed to silica dust each year, a new discovery may help prevent or treat the development of chronic lung diseases related to this exposure. In the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology scientists from Montana and Texas use mice to show for the first time that the part of our immune system responsible for keeping airways clean and free of contaminants (innate immunity) can cause inflammation and symptoms of disease. This study is significant because it is generally believed that reducing chronic inflammation will improve the quality of life for patients.

Adding a variety of vegetables to one's diet may help decrease the chance of getting lung cancer, and adding a variety of fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of squamous cell lung cancer, especially among smokers.

A novel mechanism used by adenovirus to sidestep the cell's suicide program, could go a long way to explain how tumor suppressor genes are silenced in tumor cells and pave the way for a new type of targeted cancer therapy, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the Aug. 26, 2010 issue of Nature.

For people suffering chronic pain, smoked cannabis reduces pain, improves mood and helps sleep, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091414.pdf.

Second-hand smoke is associated with a number of diseases and conditions, including cancer, heart disease, and emphysema. It is an irritant to lung tissue and blood vessels, but the processes through which the body reacts to second-hand smoke comprise a mystery scientists are only beginning to unravel.

Researchers have isolated a molecule, small enough to be used as a drug, that can shut down a dysfunctional immune response that causes deadly hemorrhagic shock, results in delayed death of heart attack patients, promotes rejection of transplanted organs and destroys joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to a paper published in Molecular Immunology.

Suncica "Sunny" Canic was good at math in school, so that's what she pursued as a career. But she always liked medicine, too. When she moved to Houston, Texas, and met some cardiologists at a party, she started talking with them about what they do -- and knew she could help them.

A North Carolina State University researcher has helped to locate and identify a gene responsible for a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects American Staffordshire terriers. This same gene may be responsible for a similar rare, fatal disease in humans. Its discovery will lead to improved screening and diagnosis of the disease in dogs and is the first step in working toward a cure for both canines and humans.

New research in the Journal of General Physiology helps explain how the body's "flight-or-fight" response is mediated. The study may provide new answers to the question of how the heart pacemaker -- the sinoatrial (SA) node -- is regulated.

AlbCommonly prescribed drugs used to lower blood pressure can actually have the opposite effect -- raising blood pressure in a statistically significant percentage of patients. A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that doctors could avoid this problem -- and select drugs most suitable for their patients -- by measuring blood levels of the enzyme renin through a blood test that is becoming more widely available.