Acute respiratory distress syndrome is the extreme manifestation of acute lung injury. Both these conditions complicate many medical and surgical conditions, not all of which affect the lung directly and are therefore encountered by clinicians working outside the critical care setting . . . Join discussion...

More than 150,00 patients a year present to their physicians with the diagnostic dilemma of a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) found either on chest radiography or chest CT. A thoughtful and timely workup of this finding is essential if lung cancer is to be recognized early and the chance for cure optimized. Based on the literature to date, recommendations are made for appropriate imaging modalities and diagnostic testing, as well as indications for obtaining preoperative tissue diagnosis for the Join discussion...

Clinical trials are underway with the first new vaccine against TB in over 80 years. If successful, the tests will have major implications for TB control and could lead to the development of a new vaccine ready to use within eight years. The need to control TB has become more urgent with the resurgence of the disease in many parts of the world, including a 10% rise in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains. TB, which is caused by the M. tuberculo Join discussion...

Both monocomponents of budesonide-formoterol given as needed contribute to enhanced protection from severe exacerbations in patients receiving combination therapy for maintenance. Join discussion...

Context: Chronic exposure to talc in the course of carpet installation can result in pneumoconiosis. Case presentation: We present a case of a young carpet installer who was diagnosed with silicatosis of the lung. Review of occupational history revealed that the patient had been working as a carpet installer for approximately 15 years, since he was 15 years of age. The patient was exposed to talc in the course of his work. Discussion: Exposure to talc in the course of carpet installation has not Join discussion...

eenagers who do not get enough of the nutrients commonly found in fruits and fish are more prone to underperforming lungs, asthma, coughing and wheezing, researchers reported on Monday. They found that teens with the lowest intake of fruit and especially vitamin C had weaker lungs compared to the others. Teens who ate less vitamin E, found in vegetable oil and nuts, were more likely to have asthma, Jane Burns and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health found. Based on these findings, Join discussion...

An international team of investigators has identified the first human antibodies that can neutralize different strains of the virus responsible for outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The research findings appear in the July 3 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team was led by Dimiter Dimitrov of the National Cancer Institute. Join discussion...

Tuberculosis is back. In most developed nations, a steady decline throughout most of the twentieth century reversed itself beginning in the mid-1980s, and cases of the disease have increased ever since. New bacterial strains resistant to various antituberculosis drugs have caused considerable alarm in major cities, where tuberculosis is often associated with AIDS, drug abuse, homelessness, and poverty. Join discussion...