Vitamin D Improves Exercise Outcomes In Patients With COPD

Vitamin D supplements may help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) get more from their pulmonary rehabilitation programs, according to a study conducted by researchers from Belgium.

The study results will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.

"Our study shows that high doses of vitamin D supplementation on top of a standard rehabilitation program improve the outcome in terms of exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength," said Miek Hornikx, physiotherapist and doctoral student in the department of pneumology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium......
Link:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/225386.php

First Time Ever, Patient Gets A New Trachea Made From A Synthetic Scaffold Seeded With His Own Stem Cells

In a recent breakthrough, the first successful transplantation of a synthetic tissue engineered windpipe was performed on a patient suffering from late stage tracheal cancer on June 9th 2011, at the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Stockholm, by professor Paolo Macchiarini and his colleagues.
Read more: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/230842.php