Research & Discovery
Childhood pneumonia and pleurisy lead to smaller lungs: Tasmanian study
"The research, from the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study cohort, involved comprehensive measures of lung function in participants at age seven and again at ages 45 and 53. The study found that in 14.2% of children, parents reported their child had experienced a doctor-diagnosed pneumonia or pleurisy. This was associated with mildly obstructive pre-bronchodilator spirometry at age seven. " - November 6th, 2019
Sleep apnoea screening at GPs may be missing up to 64 per cent of cases
"CRITERIA allowing general practitioners to refer patients directly to a sleep study may be missing more than half of patients later found to have clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnoea, according to the authors of research published in the Medical Journal of Australia..."- May 27th, 2019
Three-quarters of COPD cases are linked to childhood risk factors that are exacerbated in adulthood
"Three-quarters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases have their origins in poor lung function pathways beginning in childhood. These pathways are associated with exposures in childhood, and amplified by factors in adulthood, according to a cohort study..."- April 5th, 2018
Early intervention may minimise later lung problems
"A major study has found that controlling asthma through appropriate monitoring and medication is among several variables that can affect whether someone develops chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in later life. The University of Melbourne-led study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, was the world’s first to characterise lung function trajectories that could lead to COPD in a large general population from early childhood into the sixth decade..."