Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0037116 (silicosis)
 1,822 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

If one includes all types of chronic generalized airways obstruction under the heading of "COPD," diagnosis of this condition requires only the demonstration of an obstructive ventilatory impairment on spirometric testing that persists despite maximum medical therapy. However, as generally used, the term COPD implies that upper airways obstruction and "specific" lung diseases that can produce an obstructive type of physiologic abnormality have been excluded. Examples of these exclusions include silicosis, sarcoidosis, and even advanced tuberculous disease. It is more difficult to determine the type of disease that is causing the chronic airways obstruction in patients with COPD as defined above. A severe and persistent form of asthma, sometimes called "chronic asthmatic bronchitis," can mimic the typical emphysematous form of COPD that is characteristic of heavy cigarette smokers. Since these types of chronic airflow obstruction differ in regard to their clinical courses, prognoses, and treatments, their distinction is clinically important. One should not be discouraged by the fact that some patients appear to have a mixed type of disorder. Features that help differentiate the various forms of chronic airways obstruction are described in this report, and recommendations are offered to help guide the practitioner in the workup indicated for patients thought to have any type of chronic airways obstruction. It is also emphasized that patients vary markedly in regard to the relative importance of readily reversible bronchospasm, airways inflammation, and mucus hypersecretion in producing their disability. Assessment of these factors is critical in determining clinical management.
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PMID:Differential diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 240 7

Terlipressin (Glypressin) is a "pro-hormone"; after intravenous injection the glycyl radicals are slowly cleaved by enzymatic action, liberating vasopressin. We have assessed the efficacy of terlipressin in the treatment of severe hemoptysis. The study was performed on 20 patients: in 5 cases there was very copious hemoptysis and in 15 cases there was repeated hemoptysis of lesser volume. The cause was distributed as follows: 6 cases of neoplasms, 5 were sequelae of tuberculosis, bronchial dilatation 2 cases, pneumonia with abscess 2 cases, chronic airflow obstruction (COPD) 2 cases and 3 cases of silicosis. The treatment consisted of a slow intravenous injection of 2 mgm 4 times per day (9 patients), then in 11 patients an injection of 2 mgm at the time of acute episodes followed by 1 mgm every 6 hours. The patients received an average of between 15 and 20 mgm of the product for a treatment lasting over 5 days at the maximum. The results were as follows: total success 12 cases; partial success (a reduction to at least one-third of the initial hemoptysis): 5 cases; failure: 3 cases. The failures were linked in two cases to neoplastic disease and in one case there was an intolerance to the drug which did not allow the treatment to be pursued.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Treatment of severe hemoptysis with terlipressin. Study of the efficacy and tolerance of this product]. 279 45

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity in serum is used as an aid to the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with sarcoidosis. A theoretical limitation of measurements of activity is that these may be affected by the presence of pharmacologic or endogenous inhibitors of ACE. Immunoassays of ACE concentration avoid this problem and, when combined with tests of ACE activity, permit calculation of specific activity of ACE. In this study, we set out to develop a sensitive radioimmunoassay for ACE to compare results obtained with this method with results of ACE activity and calculated ACE specific activity in patients suffering from a variety of lung diseases. In a group of control subjects (n = 32), the ACE concentration was 453.7 +/- 159.8 (SD) ng/mL; 95% confidence interval (CI), 398.34 to 509.06, but levels were significantly elevated in sarcoidosis (979.3 +/- 558.6 ng/mL; 95% CI, 827.5 to 1,131.1; n = 51; p < 0.001 vs control subjects), silicosis (646.5 +/- 239.1 ng/mL; 95% CI, 544.2 to 748.8; n = 21; p < 0.01), and miliary tuberculosis (647.0 +/- 217.1 ng/mL; 95% CI, 551.9 to 742.1; n = 29; p < 0.01). The levels were normal in COPD, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, and active cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis. The overall correlation between ACE activity and concentration measurements was strong (r = 0.93). No evidence of endogenous ACE inhibition was observed in any of the disease categories studied except in COPD where an elevation of ACE specific activity was observed, raising the possibility that in this condition different isozymes of ACE with higher specific activity might be released.
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PMID:Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme activity, concentration, and specific activity in granulomatous interstitial lung disease, tuberculosis, and COPD. 787 41

We used noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation to treat hypercapnea due to acute exacerbations of chronic respiratory failure (21 episodes in 19 patients; COPD, 4; pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae, 4; silicosis, 3; silicotuberculosis, 3; bronchiectasis, 3; others, 2). All patients had acute onsets of severe hypercapnea (PaCO2 > 45 Torr), acute decreases in pH (< 7.35), and tachypnea, paradoxical breathing or both. During the first 2 to 4 hours of bi-level positive airway pressure, PaCO2 decreased from 72 to 61 Torr (p < 0.0005), pH increased from 7.26 to 7.31 (p < 0.001), and respiratory rate decreased from 30 to 25 breaths/min (p < 0.005). In three cases leakage of air through the mouth prevented improvement in the patients' conditions, but in two of those a face mask was then used successfully. In 17 of the 21 episodes (81%) gas exchange improved and intubation was not necessary. In those 17, the mean duration of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation was 6.3 days. We conclude that noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation can improve gas exchange in patients with acute hypercapnea complicating chronic respiratory failure.
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PMID:[Outcomes of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation in patients with acute hypercapnia complicating chronic respiratory failure]. 939 53

The Transkei is one of two regions from which a majority of South African mine workers used to be recruited, and the destination to which many return. The study was done to determine the prevalences of lung diseases in these ex-workers, links between these diseases and age, links between diseases and duration of mining, and the association between silicosis and tuberculosis. It was done in Umtata General Hospital. Participants' (n = 300) ages ranged from 35 to 66+ years (mean 51.6). Durations of mining ranged from < 1 to 31+ years. 29/300 X-rays (9.6%) were unreadable; 59 (21.8%) were disease-free; and 212 (78.2%) showed lung abnormalities. Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) with or without silicosis was evident in 64.2% of the x-rays, silicosis with or without PTB in 34%, COPD in 7%, and asbestosis in 1.5%. The relative risk for tuberculosis was 5.08 (2.58-9.88) for men with silicosis compared with others, p < 0.01. The extremely high burden of lung disease in ex-mine workers places enormous challenges on health service delivery systems and compensation authorities.
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PMID:Patterns of lung diseases in former mine workers of the former Republic of the Transkei: an X-ray-based study. 1201 76

We report on a 73-year-old man, who developed chronical bronchitis after 15 years of working as a coal miner. About 3 decades later a manifest COPD, and additionally a silicosis, were diagnosed. The silicosis was rated as an accepted case for the hazard insurance, but not as a reason for pension. The reasoning for the declining of pension for the applicant is refuted by the literature which defines occupational diseases and is generally accepted by the legislation. In this case the insurance argued that in low- to medium-grade spread of silicosis functional deficits of the lung and/or the cardio-vascular system are not to be expected. Thus the recognition and recompensation of a BK 4101 (grinders' disease, silicosis) was proposed, in contrast to the social court which demanded an expert's opinion on causality.
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PMID:[Silicosis or chronical obstructive bronchitis/emphysema as compensatory occupational disease]. 1658 4

Many diseases, including cancers, heart diseases, and lung diseases, can usefully be viewed as arising from disruption of feedback control systems that normally maintain homeostasis of tissues and cell populations. Excessive exposure can destabilize feedback control loops, leading to sustained elevation of variables to saturated levels and clinical consequences such as chronic unresolved inflammation, destruction of tissue (as in emphysema), proliferation of cell populations (as in lung cancer), and increases in reactive oxygen species and protease levels (as in coronary heart diseases and chronic obstructive lung disease). We propose a framework for understanding how exposure can destabilize normally homeostatic feedback control systems and create sustained imbalances and elevated levels of disease-related variables, by creating a new, locally stable, alternative equilibrium for the dynamic system, in addition to its normal (homeostatic) equilibrium. The resulting model, which we call alternative-equilibria (AE) theory, implies the existence of an exposure threshold below which transition to the alternative equilibrium (potential disease) state will not occur. Once this threshold is exceeded, progression to the alternative equilibrium continues spontaneously, even without further exposure. These predictions may help to explain patterns observed in experimental and epidemiological data for diseases such as COPD, silicosis, and inflammation-mediated lung cancer.
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PMID:Dose-response thresholds for progressive diseases. 2274 Jul 85

Smokers are subject to being more susceptible to the long-term effects of silica dust, whilst it remains unclear whether the joint effect of smoking and silicosis differs amongst diseases to the lungs; this study aims to address this knowledge gap. This was a historical cohort study comprised of 3202 silicotics in Hong Kong during 1981-2005 who were followed up till 31/12/2006. We estimated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) in the smoking and never smoking silicotics using the mortality rates of male general population indiscriminately by smoking status, but these SMRs were regarded as biased. We adjusted these biased SMRs using "smoking adjustment factors (SAF)". We assessed the multiplicative interaction between smoking and silicosis using 'relative silicosis effect (RSE)' that was the ratio of SAF-corrected SMR of smoking silicotics to the never smokers. A RSE differs significantly from one implies the presence of multiplicative interaction. A significant excess SMR was observed for respiratory diseases (lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases [COPD], silicosis) and other diseases to the lungs (pulmonary heart disease, tuberculosis). All the 'biased-SMRs' in smokers were higher than those in never smokers, but the SAF-corrected SMRs became higher in never smokers. The RSE was 0.95 (95%CI: 0.37-3.55), 0.94 (95%CI: 0.42-2.60), and 0.81 (95%CI: 0.60-1.19) for lung cancer, COPD, and silicosis; whilst it was 1.21 (95%CI: 0.32-10.26) for tuberculosis and 1.02 (95%CI: 0.16-42.90) for pulmonary heart disease. This study firstly demonstrated the joint effect of smoking and silicosis may differ amongst diseases to the lungs, but power is limited.
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PMID:Joint effects of smoking and silicosis on diseases to the lungs. 2510 9

Respiratory tract infections are the most common diseases that are associated with social burden for the patient. Western Rajasthan has cases of Cystic fibrosis due to migrant population. The dry and dusty environment has led to prevalence of silicosis and COPD. As per IDSA (2018) guidelines, patients attending Out-Patient Department do not need microbiological investigations for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) except for influenza and tuberculosis.
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PMID:Bacterial pathogens from lower respiratory tract infections: A study from Western Rajasthan. 3250 24