The short- and long-term effects of lower limb endurance training on outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To explore the short- and long-term effects of lower-limb endurance training on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease outpatients.

Design: Prospective quasi-experimental study.

Setting: 1383-bed teaching hospital in Taiwan.

Body composition changes in male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Aging or disease process?

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mainly affects middle-age and elderly adults. It is unclear if the presence of muscle wasting and fat accumulation in patients with COPD is age or disease-related. This study investigated the effect of age and COPD disease severity on body composition with the aim of identifying a biomarker(s) for COPD.