Viral infections in COPD affected people

    A study from researchers at Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) and University of Newcastle in collaboration with Grace Cooper from the University of Southampton, have found people with COPD are more prone to viral infections. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a lung disease that is irreversible; which causes emphysema and inflammable of the bronchi (bronchitis). Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells, which are present within the lung tissues that are overly active when exposed to viral infections in people with COPD. This over activity can cause problems because NK cells stop working properly and then not produce the necessary signaling protein, cytokine, which helps fight back the viral infections.

    Interesting on how smoking; one of the main causes of COPD; where ~30 million (12.5%)  the United States population are smokers (data from the CDC). That would mean that a lot of people are acquiring a preventable disease that causes your body to not be able to properly and effectively fight back against common viruses.

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