Eoxins may be another piece in the puzzle helping us to understand the mechanism for airway inflammation. Professor Hans-Erik Claesson, Karolinska Institutet, presented new data on eoxins at the annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in Stockholm. The discovery could pave the way for new medicines addressing respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD. [click link for full article]

The MS Society is delighted to announce that it has been highly commended for its publication MS Essentials 17: Pain and Sensory Symptoms at the British Medical Association’s Patient Information Book Awards in London. The award-winning MS Essentials series is produced in conjunction with people directly affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) and gives information on a wide range of issues relevant to the condition. [click link for full article]

The INSPIRE (Investigating New Standards for Prophylaxis in Reduction of Exacerbations) study is a multi-centre, multinational, randomised, double-blind controlled trial which enrolled over 1′300 patients with severe or very severe COPD. It is the first large prospective study to compare the impact of two different treatments approaches, using either salmeterol/fluticasone propionate (SFC) or tiotropium bromide, in COPD exacerbations (sudden worsening of symptoms) over two years. [click link for full article]

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) is pleased to announce that Dr Morten Dahl, Herlev University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark and Simonetta Baraldo, Padova, Italy, are this year’s winners of the Society’s annual award for research in the field of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The ERS COPD Research Award recognises the work of young European ERS members active in pulmonology research and has been awarded for the seventh time this year. [click link for full article]

Offering hope to millions of chronic pain sufferers around the world, a major study published online by the international medical journal PAIN and supported by Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) found that people with chronic neuropathic leg and back pain benefited significantly more from neurostimulation therapy plus conventional medical management than from conventional medical management alone. [click link for full article]

The NPA is working with The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and Macmillan Cancer Support to promote November’s Lung Cancer Awareness Month through community pharmacy.NPA members will receive with their October InTouch (the NPA’s member magazine) an A4 ‘Lung Cancer Awareness’ poster for pharmacists to display in their shops. [click link for full article]

The National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP), a sister organization of the AARC, has both patient and professional educational materials available for distribution during these important upcoming events on the respiratory therapist’s calendar:For patients:”Save Your Breath America” (revised in 2006) is an easy-to-read booklet containing important information for patients with COPD. [click link for full article]

New research shows that nicotine from cigarette smoke even with low-nicotine cigarettes, may promote hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which makes heart attacks more likely. The new study focuses on mice, not people. However the researchers say the findings may help explain why smoking is a risk factor for heart disease. “The best thing to do is give up smoking, says Daniel Catanzaro, PhD, of Cornell University’s Weill Medical College, in a news release. [click link for full article]

Researchers have found that strong child support enforcement has mixed outcomes for unmarried parent families. [click link for full article]

Customers at Alliance Pharmacies across the UK are being asked to donate their old mobile phones for recycling as part of a national campaign to help raise money for Asthma UK. For each mobile phone that is recycled, £2.50 will be donated to Asthma UK, one of Alliance Pharmacy’s chosen charity partners. Asthma UK is the charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the 5.2 million people in the UK whose lives are affected by asthma. [click link for full article]