Respiratory muscles in interstitial lung disease: poorly explored and poorly understood

Respiratory muscles in interstitial lung disease: poorly explored and poorly understood

1. Divisão de Pneumologia, Instituto do Coração, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo (SP) Brasil. Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a heterogeneous group of parenchymal lung disorders characterized by permanent structural changes that result in mechanical modifications, notably a significant reduction in the elasticity of the lung parenchyma.(1...

Thrombosis – Besieged but Poorly Understood

In biology, thrombosis is a mechanism of maintaining the integrity of biological surfaces in higher mammals, limiting fluid loss, and facilitating the recognition, containment, and destruction of pathogens and foreign materials by a scaffold of fibrin and DNA strands. However, thrombosis may also lead to vascular occlusion and subsequent tissue damage. In medicine, thrombosis is a hallmark of l...

Premenstrual asthma: still poorly understood.

Bronchiectasis: an orphan disease with a poorly-understood prognosis.

The prognosis and risk factors for bronchiectasis are at present poorly known. The aim of this study was to examine the long-term prognosis and cause of death in this disease. The National Hospital Discharge Register was used to search for patients aged 35-74 yrs, with newly-diagnosed bronchiectasis in the period 1982-1986. Each of the 842 patients identified was matched with an asthmatic patie...

Q Fever: An Old but Still a Poorly Understood Disease

Q fever is a bacterial infection affecting mainly the lungs, liver, and heart. It is found around the world and is caused by the bacteria Coxiella burnetii. The bacteria affects sheep, goats, cattle, dogs, cats, birds, rodents, and ticks. Infected animals shed this bacteria in birth products, feces, milk, and urine. Humans usually get Q fever by breathing in contaminated droplets released by in...