Press Releases

Common treatment for patients with chronic, progressive lung disease found to be ineffective

A drug used to treat patients with mild to moderate lung damage from the disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is no better than placebo for preserving lung function, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. The finding is in the final report of a clinical trial called Prednisone, Azathioprine, and N-Acetylcysteine: A Study That Evaluates Response in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (PANTHER-IPF). It will be published May 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NHLBI Media Availability: Vitamin D supplementation does not reduce asthma treatment failure in people with low Vitamin D, but some benefits suggested.

WHAT: Supplementing inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) with vitamin D does not reduce the rate of treatment failure in patients with asthma and vitamin D insufficiency, finds a new National Institutes of Health-funded study. The Vitamin D Add-on Therapy Enhances Corticosteroid Responsiveness in Asthma (VIDA) trial randomized 408 adults with low vitamin D and mild/moderate asthma to receive the ICS ciclesonide supplemented with either high-dose vitamin D3 or placebo; the participants were then monitored over 28 weeks for the occurrence of worsening asthma.

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Health Topic: Asthma

NIH-funded studies find statins provide no benefit to COPD, ARDS outcomes

Statin therapy does not prevent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or lower mortality from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), report two studies that rigorously tested the benefit of the cholesterol-lowering drugs on outcomes in the lung diseases. The findings from the studies funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health were presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) annual meeting on May 18, with corresponding online publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.