Happy World Pulmonary Hypertension Day 2015, everyone!

The recognition and declaration of a World Pulmonary Hypertension Day is a step forward in the consolidation of a worldwide PH awareness. World PH Day will focus on the importance of improving the quality of life and life expectancy of more than 25 million people living with PH worldwide. Pulmonary hypertension can be a fatal disease that is difficult to diagnose. There are many types of PH, including idiopathic and hereditary PH, which are considered rare diseases. However, PH is most commonly the result of other health problems.

Regardless of type, pulmonary hypertension is defined as an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins or pulmonary capillaries, together known as the lung vasculature. It is a severe disease with a markedly decreased exercise tolerance; pulmonary hypertension can also eventually lead to heart failure.

 

Objectives

During the celebration of World PH Day the patients' organizations will launch messages on the need to:

• Increase awareness and disseminate knowledge of the disease to facilitate early diagnosis. Early diagnosis is important in decreasing premature PH-related deaths.
• Promote access to specific healthcare and treatments that increase quality of life and life expectancy.
• Promote the concept of treating PH patients as a whole, which includes treating their physical, psychological and social issues.
• Unify international criteria for the recognition of Centers of Excellence in PH.
• Promote research that will help find the cure for pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness 2015

Dear Respiratory Friends we are happy to introduce Chloe Temtchine, who is great fighter for Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness!
Chloe Temtchine's voice is clear, sultry and strong. She has pouty supermodel lips and high, perfectly arched brows. She's thin and tall with tan skin, and silky black hair. Chloe Temtchine wouldn't look out of place on any red carpet, maybe with the exception of the breathing tubes she uses, even while performing. 

On April 3 Chloe Temtchine released her song "Be Brave," which she debuted at a Pulmonary Hypertension Association gala in New York City in November. The title of the song reminds us of the splendid courage it takes to live day to day with a disease or a disability. It reminds us that our perceptions of people should not be based on these factors, because that would only serve to disable them further.

Bronchiectasis Guidelines 2015

Dear Respiratory friends, today was published intresting review on Management of Bronchoectasis! 

Read full text: http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/45/5/1446.full

Formerly regarded as a rare disease, bronchiectasis is now increasingly recognised and a renewed interest in the condition is stimulating drug development and clinical research. Bronchiectasis represents the final common pathway of a number of infectious, genetic, autoimmune, developmental and allergic disorders and is highly heterogeneous in its aetiology, impact and prognosis.

The goals of therapy should be: to improve airway mucus clearance through physiotherapy with or without adjunctive therapies; to suppress, eradicate and prevent airway bacterial colonisation; to reduce airway inflammation; and to improve physical functioning and quality of life. 

Fortunately, an increasing body of evidence supports interventions in bronchiectasis. The field has benefited greatly from the introduction of evidence-based guidelines in some European countries and randomised controlled trials have now demonstrated the benefit of long-term macrolide therapy, with accumulating evidence for inhaled therapies, physiotherapy and pulmonary rehabilitation.