Technology has changed exponentially in recent years. Just consider the apps available on your smart phone today compared to what was available just 5 or ten short years ago. In fact the term disruptive technology was coined to describe any new technology that comes along and is so significant and innovative that it ''disrupts'' the status ...

The US Preventive Services Task Force is recommending that healthy men should not be routinely screened with the PSA test. There has been a buzz that this decision was in the offing for several years now, so the final ruling is not a surprise to  many. The logic of course is that the test has a high degree of nonspecificity and is ...

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality wants to hear from you. The invitation came from AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, during the keynote address Monday at the American Association for Respiratory Care's 56th International Respiratory Congress. Dr. Clancy focused on the importance of patient-centered outcomes research. In ...

One of the advantages of an information system is it makes data mining possible, extracting patterns from large databases to predict future trends. Typically, it’s associated with obscured or hidden information. A standard model called CRISP-DM has developed in the last decade, consisting of the following stages: Business ...

Are all asthmatics alike? Can severe asthmatics be treated the same as individuals with mild forms? These are interesting questions currently being asked in pulmonary circles everywhere and ones that have considerable bearing on new therapies under consideration. Not surprisingly, the questions are international in scope because asthma concerns ...

Patients struggling to control severe, persistent asthma have a new non-drug weapon at their disposal. The Food and Drug Administration this week approved the use of Asthmatx Inc.'s Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System for treating patients whose asthma is not well controlled with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta agonists.''After more ...

SAN DIEGO--NAMDRC's 33rd Annual Meeting and Educational Conference kicked off with a ''controversial'' and ''contentious'' topic.''People are worried,'' said Charles Atwood, MD, FCCP, FAASM, professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, during Home Sleep Apnea Testing: State of the Art. ''They feel anxiety on where the future is ...

Results of two recent studies may provide respiratory therapists with some flexibility in treating their acute respiratory distress syndrome patients, according to Timothy A. Mullen, RRT, in an article titled ''Beyond ARDS Net: A Two-Study Review Shows a Reduction in Mortality.'' Behind the scenes, he shows how the debate over use of low tidal ...

Interesting developments for spinal cord injury patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Last month, the FDA approved the NeuRx DPS RA/4 Respiratory Stimulation System, an implantable electronic device that stimulates the diaphragm and allows some SCI patients to breathe for at least four hours a day without a vent. ''While the NeuRx RA/4 does ...

I was speaking to a lady at a party recently and she mentioned her sister had ''a bunch of saliva tests'' done, and one of them indicated she was at risk for Sjögren's syndrome, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system cells attack the saliva- and tear-producing glands, causing them to become inflamed. Knowing my professional ...