Smartphone apps for vaccines, asthma generate interest at NAPNAP 2013

Using smartphone software applications (apps) to remind patients to get vaccines is an increasingly viable solution to overcome gaps in traditional patient reminder systems, and a useful patient education tool, according to researchers at the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners 2013 Annual Meeting......

Keep reading here: clinicaladvisor.com



Examining the Risk of Pulmonary Embolism in Patients with Asthma

Patients with asthma have recently been reported to have a considerably greater risk of pulmonary embolism (PE), a complication that may be underdiagnosed since the classic warning symptom of dyspnea is also perceived as a sign of asthma. Increasing evidence has suggested that patients with asthma have activated coagulation within the airways, and in exploring whether this phenomenon leads to an increase in venous thromboembolic events (VTEs), a recent study identified 648 outpatients with mild-moderate and severe asthma in 3 Dutch tertiary asthma clinics.3 Among these subjects, researchers found the incidence of VTE per 1000 patient-years to be 0.95 in patients with mild-moderate asthma, 1.29 in patients with severe asthma, and 0.46 in a sample selected from the general population......

See more at: pharmacytimes.com



NIH funds study of beta blockers in treating asthma

HOUSTON -- (April 19, 2013) -- Baylor College of Medicine researchers will lead a three-year, $4.2 million study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to determine whether drugs called beta blockers can ease airway narrowing in patients with asthma and examine potential mechanisms. Researchers from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, also will participate......

Source at bcm.edu