Bronchitis

Help smokers quit with a multifaceted approach

June 19, 2009

By treating smoking aggressively as a chronic, relapsing disease, clinicians can raise the odds for success, a pair of studies suggests. One gave patients a variety of cessation medications at the same time. The other investigated the effect of supplementary counseling.

FDA approves Symbicort for COPD

March 03, 2009

The FDA has approved Symbicort 160/4.5 micrograms (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dehydrate, from AstraZeneca) for the maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Is it really asthma?

By Alan Kaplan, MD January 22, 2008

Many upper- and lower-airway problems cause wheeze and cough, and some conditions coexist with asthma. Here's how to pin down a diagnosis.

Bronchiectasis: A serious uncommon lung disorder

By Mark L. Metersky, MD, and Aydin Uzunpinar, MD October 17, 2007

Most often secondary to childhood infection, bronchiectasis is irreversible. But there are steps you can take to improve your patients' quality of life.

Antibiotics: When less is more

September 14, 2006

In medicine, as in life, more isn't always better. Short-course antibiotic therapy, currently emerging as an important dosing strategy for treatment of a number of bacterial infections, is a prime example. Although short-course therapy is gaining traction for many reasons, the main one can be summed up in just two words: antimicrobial resistance.

Chronic bronchitis: Help patients breathe easy

By Kimberly A. Hardin, MD June 06, 2006

A change in the usual cough, sputum, or dyspnea can signal an acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. Now the BODE index can help quantify that change and guide you in keeping the disease under control.