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Propeller Health has come out with “smart inhalers” which use Bluetooth technology to interact with a patient’s smartphone and record data. Whenever the patient uses their inhaler, the time and location are recorded via a smartphone app. This allows the patient, and their doctor, to see when and where the patient suffers asthma attacks.

May is Cystic Fibrosis month, and this May a diverse group of people around the world have been working to raise funds for cystic fibrosis research and treatment.

In Kansas City, Missouri former pro wrestler and current Brazilian jiu-jitsu champ Travis Conley teamed up with local restaurant Longboards Wraps and Bowls to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder or COPD is a progressive disease that obstructs airflow and makes breathing difficult. Fortunately, doctors and patients now have an unexpected new tool for fighting this illness: the recorder.

Two weeks ago, Diwali was celebrated in India. Diwali, the festival of lights, is a Hindu holiday about the victory of light over darkness. It is celebrated with lamps and candles, feasts, gift giving, and firecrackers.

Unfortunately, this year’s firecrackers have led to a 20% increase in cases of pollution related bronchitis in the city of Jaipur.

Over 25 million Americans live with asthma. Many forget to or choose not to adhere to their asthma prescriptions, leading to unnecessary hospital visits and $700 to $4,000 per patient per year in preventable medical costs, according to the CDC.

But a new device by MIT spin-off company Gecko Health is hoping to change all that. Meet the smart inhaler, CareTRx.

The good news: A new drug called Kalydeco has been approved by the FDA to treat cystic fibrosis (CF). It targets the root cause of the disorder, and although it’s not a cure it’s supposed to greatly improve the quality of life for CF patients and help them live longer. (The current life expectancy for most CF patients is in their 40s).

A group of doctors from Quebec have taken up what may initially seem like a strange cause: banning perfume and cologne from hospitals. Why? Because artificial scents have the power to harm patients, particularly those with asthma.

Asthma rates have been growing around the world for years now. One theory as to why is the “hygiene hypothesis.” It states that asthma is on the rise because kids today live in too sterile of environments. They’re exposed to so few irritants and allergens that their immune systems can’t tell which are actually harmful and end up overreacting to harmless irritants.

A number of stories have been circulating around the internet about people consuming alcohol in an all new way: inhalation. Apparently, people use nebulizer machines, hookah pipes, vaporizers and more to turn their booze into smoke and breath it in. The stated benefits are that it’s lower calorie, since the alcohol isn’t going through your stomach, and that it reaches and affects your brain much quicker.

Approximately 70,000 people live with Cystic Fibrosis, a hereditary respiratory disorder caused by faulty genes. That number is growing; an estimated 1,000 new cases of CF are documented each year.

Fortunately, scientists around the world are working on a new treatment called gene therapy. In this therapy, “copies of a normal gene are inserted into the DNA of cells to counter the effects of the faulty gene.”

Researchers are currently testing an inhalable ebola vaccine on animals, hoping to move on to human trials in the near future. So far, things look promising. The potential vaccine being tested is a mixture of a weakened respiratory virus-- parainfluenza virus type 3-- and an Ebola virus glycoprotein. The combo is called HPIV3/EboGP.

June is the peak month for grass pollens and if you have allergies, you’ve probably noticed. But fear not, for there is a new and innovative allergy treatment: toothpaste.

Specifically, a toothpaste called Allerdent. Unlike most allergy medications, it doesn’t just help with the symptoms. Its goal is to make you immune to your allergen.

Outbreaks of the flu don’t just affect humans. They can affect dogs too.

Currently, an outbreak of the flu is infecting dogs throughout the Chicago area. Rescuers are trying to fight it with everything from nebulizer treatments to Pedialyte, chicken soup, and liver sausage.

Currently, there is no cure for cystic fibrosis. But some scientists at Yale could change that.

On April 27th, they published a paper explaining how they successfully fixed the most common mutation in the gene that causes cystic fibrosis.

At the University of Arizona, professor of management information systems Sudha Ram and physician Dr. Yolande Pengetnze have teamed up to invent a model that can predict with 75% accuracy how many asthma related emergency room visits a hospital will receive on a given day.