Emphasizing respiratory health remains a cornerstone of comprehensive patient care. Effective respiratory management not only reduces the risk of complications but also enhances quality of life and supports long-term wellness outcomes. Each October, Respiratory Care Week highlights the importance of respiratory health in the overall well-being of patients and serves as a reminder of the impact clinicians can make through proactive management and patient education.

By participating in awareness initiatives, clinicians can reinforce the importance of early intervention, preventive care, and multidisciplinary collaboration. These efforts empower patients to engage actively in maintaining their respiratory health and contribute to improved long-term outcomes.

In recognition of Respiratory Care Week, we're highlighting recent research in pulmonology from international journals. This rundown is organized into three key areas: asthma, COPD, and pneumonia. The rundown includes studies examining the relationship between sleep duration and asthma risk, the prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with COPD, and the impact of radiographic uncertainty on antibiotic resistance in pediatric pneumonia cases.

Asthma Articles

Exposome-Wide Associations and Polyexposure Risks of Workplace Chemical Exposures on Adult Asthma: The Personalized Environment and Genes Study (PEGS)

  • Environmental Research, October 2025
  • Description: Many potential occupational asthmagens remain unrecognized, and their co-exposure risks are underestimated. Researchers conducted an exposome-wide association study to systematically explore occupational chemical exposures and estimate their joint association with asthma outcomes using polyexposure scores. 
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Metformin Use and Asthma Outcomes in Patients with Concurrent Diabetes and Bronchial Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  • The Indian Journal of Medical Research, October 2025
  • Description: Limited data exist on the effects of metformin on asthma outcomes in patients having type 2 diabetes along with asthma. This meta-analysis seeks to determine whether metformin influences asthma outcomes in these patients.
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Tenant Reports of In-Home Asthma Triggers and Adult Emergency Department Use

  • Jama Network Open, October 2025
  • Description: Housing conditions are well recognized as a significant contributor to asthma burden. However, due to the inherent difficulty of in-home exposure assessment, there is only limited evidence evaluating the extent of population-level exposure to indoor triggers in urban environments and its link with asthma burden and disparities.
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Integrated Retrospective and Post-GWAS Analyses Reveal Mechanisms Linking Nightly Short Sleep to Asthma

  • Brain and Behavior, October 2025
  • Description: This study employs a dual-pronged approach, integrating retrospective cohort analysis with genetic methodologies, to elucidate the causal role of nightly short sleep in the pathogenesis of asthma and to unravel its underpinning biological mechanisms.
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Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Asthma in Children with Allergic Rhinitis

  • Immunity, Inflammation and Disease, October 2025
  • Description: Allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma frequently coexist in children, with substantial overlap in pathophysiology and clinical management. Understanding caregivers' perspectives is important for improving disease control and outcomes. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers of children with AR toward associated asthma.
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COPD Articles

Cardiovascular Events in COPD: Complementary Role of Cardiac Risk and Coronary Artery Calcium Scores

  • Chest, October 2025
  • Description: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk of developing major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Existing clinical tools for risk stratification in these patients have underperformed in predicting the outcomes.
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Decreased Sputum Type-2 Gene Expression in COPD Current Smokers

  • International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, October 2025
  • Description: Higher blood eosinophil counts in COPD patients are associated with a greater response to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment, with type 2 (T2) inflammation being the target for ICS in COPD. Current smokers have reduced responses to ICS treatment. Researchers have investigated whether current smoking modulates the levels of T2 mediators in the airways, thereby influencing ICS responsiveness.
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Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Severe COPD: A Cross-Sectional Study

  • Journal of Clinical Medicine, October 2025
  • Description: Cognitive impairment (CI) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been associated with reduced physical activity and decreased adherence to inhalation therapy. The primary aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of CI in patients with severe COPD and secondly compare outcomes with non-COPD comparators.
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Intra- and Inter-Rater Reproducibility of Measures of Physical Performance in Patients with COPD

  • Journal of Clinical Medicine, September 2025
  • Description: Assessments of functional capacity require considerable time and space and are thus generally not suitable for home-based assessments. Reproducibility measures from tests evaluating functional capacity suitable for home-based assessment are warranted. The aim of this study was to investigate the intra- and inter-rater reproducibility of home-based assessments of the one-minute sit-to-stand test, handgrip strength, and short physical performance battery in patients with moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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Timing of Cardiovascular Events in People With COPD With and Without Chronic Respiratory Failure

  • Respiratory Medicine, September 2025
  • Description: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be associated to comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The timing of CVD associated with chronic respiratory failure (CRF) in COPD people is unclear. This large, long-term, real life study is aimed to assess the timing of ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure (CHF), and cardiac atrial arrhythmia in COPD individuals with CRF as compared to those without.
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Pneumonia Articles

Radiographic Uncertainty and Antibiotic Prescribing in Pediatric Pneumonia

  • Pediatrics, October 2025
  • Description: Over one million children are diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) across ambulatory settings annually nationwide. There is no consensus regarding whether a chest radiograph (CXR) should be performed. Many clinicians perform CXR, while others presumptively prescribe antibiotics. This decision varies given challenges in the history and physical examination, mixed evidence for CXR, variable radiologist CXR interpretation, and CXR availability. Uncertainty in CXR interpretation may drive antibiotic overuse. We evaluated how radiographic uncertainty influences antibiotic prescribing in children undergoing CAP evaluation.
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Aspiration Pneumonia in Diabetic Ketoacidosis: A Decade-Long Analysis of Occurrence, Associated Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes in 530,700 US Hospitalizations

  • Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, October 2025
  • Description: Aspiration pneumonia (AP) is a serious clinical condition among patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This study aimed to determine the occurrence and associated risk factors for AP among patients hospitalized with DKA
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Predictive Value of Bedside Lung Ultrasound, Quantitative Chest CT, and Frailty Assessment for Short-Term Outcomes in Elderly Patients with Severe Pneumonia: A Pilot Study

  • BMC Pulmonary Medicine, October 2025
  • Description: Elderly patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia have high short-term mortality, yet conventional severity scores do not incorporate bedside imaging or physiological frailty. In this study we aim to evaluate the feasibility of obtaining lung ultrasound, quantitative chest computed tomography, and Clinical Frailty Scale assessments during the same admission and explore the predictive potential for 28-day mortality by integrating imaging severity with physiological frailty.
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Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia: Past, Present, and Perspectives

  • Journal of Critical Care, October 2025
  • Description: Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) remains the most frequent and lethal hospital acquired infection, driving ICU mortality, prolonged length of stay, and resource use. Ventilator-associated pneumonia, the archetypal form of HAP, has long defined both the risks and unintended costs of intensive care.
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Analysis of Co-Infection in Severe and Critical Patients with Influenza A (H1N1) Pneumonia Using Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing on Bronchoalveolar Lavage Samples

  • Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, September 2025
  • Description: The study aimed to clarify the co-infection patterns in adult patients with severe influenza A (H1N1) pneumonia using Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS) and to examine their impact on clinical outcomes, particularly focusing on the differences between severe and critical patient groups.
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Look forward to more journal-focused topics in the coming weeks. 

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