The cost to society and the individual of treating asthma has been increasing in developed countries. This has given rise to studies of the efficacy of complementary treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of traditional Chinese Acupuncture in patients with mild asthma. The method used for evaluation of efficacy was total airway resistance at 5Hz (R5) as measured by impul...

This study aims to elucidate the change in pulmonary function in stage 0 COPD patients. A total of 48 stage 0 COPD patients and 46 healthy adults were included in the study. The status of their pulmonary function was determined by an impulse oscillometry (IOS) system, and the spirometric indexes such as forced vital capacity, maximum expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curve, total respiratory impeda...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary changes that occur in cystic fibrosis may influence inspiratory muscle strength and endurance. We evaluated inspiratory muscle strength and endurance in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis in comparison with healthy subjects. METHODS This is a cross-sectional observational study with subjects with cystic fibrosis and paired healthy individuals, age 6-18 y. Spiro...

INTRODUCTION Successful research management requirements include; equal teamwork and efficient coordination, in order to increase the impact of the research outcomes and provide added value knowledge. Aim of this paper is to discuss the strategies that have been followed during the RN4CAST study, the largest nursing multi-country research project ever conducted in Europe. The paper focuses on t...

This conceptual paper introduces the logic of embeddedness as a new theoretical angle to the IS planning stream of research. Taking two levels of analysis into account, we examine the impact of socially embedded ties on strategic interorganizational system (IOS) planning. We propose that from a dyad perspective, embedded ties facilitate the planning process, and can significantly increase the n...

BACKGROUND Small airways dysfunction (SAD) contributes to the clinical expression of asthma. The identification of patients who suffer from SAD is important from a clinical perspective, as targeted therapy may improve patients' well-being and treatment efficacy. AIMS We aimed to realize the first step in the development of a simple small airways dysfunction tool (SADT) that may help to identi...

OBJECTIVE We hypothesised that the airway resistance during tidal breathing would correlate with a particular pattern of increasing obesity, particularly when supine, and would differ between participants with and without ventilatory failure. METHODS In our cross-sectional cohort study, 72 morbidly obese patients (40 males, 32 females, mean body mass index (BMI) 47.2) had measurements of both...

BACKGROUND Respiratory function and airway inflammation can be evaluated in preschool children with special techniques, but their relative power in identifying young children with asthma has not been studied. This study was undertaken to compare the value of exhaled nitric oxide (FE(NO)), baseline lung function, and bronchodilator responsiveness in identifying children with newly detected proba...

INTRODUCTION Almost one third of patients with asthma have symptomatic evidence for coexisting gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is thought to be aggravating factor in asthma at least in some cases. We investigated the impact of coexisting GERD on asthma severity and parameters of lung function. METHODS Ninety two asthma patients diagnosed according to ATS criteria were studied. A...

BACKGROUND A concomitant decrease in FEV1 and FVC with normal FEV1/FVC ratio and TLC defines small airways obstructive pattern (SAOP) and constitutes a classic pitfall of pulmonary-function-tests interpretation. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of flow- (FEV1 increase≥12% and 200 mL), volume- (FVC or inspiratory capacity [IC] increase≥12% and 200 mL), flow and volume-, and non-response to...