Background: Patients with COPD present a major recruitment of the inspiratory muscles, predisposing to chest incoordination, increasing the degree of dyspnea and impairing their exercise capacity. Stretching techniques could decrease the respiratory muscle activity and improve their contractile capacity; however, the systemic effects of stretching remain unknown.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of aerobic training combined with respiratory muscle stretching on functional exercise capacity and thoracoabdominal kinematics in patients with COPD.
Design: This study was a randomized and controlled trial.
Participants: A total of 30 patients were allocated to a treatment group (TG) or a control group (CG; n=15, each group).
Intervention: The TG was engaged in respiratory muscle stretching and the CG in upper and lower limb muscle stretching. Both groups performed 24 sessions (twice a week, 12 weeks) of aerobic training.
Evaluations: Functional exercise capacity (6-minute walk test), thoracoabdominal kinematics (optoelectronic plethysmography), and respiratory muscle activity (surface electromyography) were evaluated during exercise. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the groups at a significance level of 5%.
Results: After the intervention, the TG showed improved abdominal (ABD) contribution, compartmental volume, mobility, and functional exercise capacity with decreased dyspnea when compared with the CG (<0.01). The TG also showed a decreased respiratory muscle effort required to obtain the same pulmonary volume compared to the CG (<0.001).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that aerobic training combined with respiratory muscle stretching increases the functional exercise capacity with decreased dyspnea in patients with COPD. These effects are associated with an increased efficacy of the respiratory muscles and participation of the ABD compartment.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S114548 | DOI Listing |
Ann Phys Rehabil Med
January 2025
Department of Radiology, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM); IdISSC, Madrid, Spain.
Background: Inspiratory and expiratory muscle training (RMT) has been shown to have beneficial effects in individuals with long-term post-COVID-19 symptoms.
Objective: To assess the effects of adding RMT to an aerobic exercise (AE) training program for health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and exercise tolerance in individuals with long-term post-COVID-19 symptoms, and to evaluate the effects on physical and lung function, and psychological status.
Methods: 64 individuals with long-term post-COVID-19 symptoms of fatigue and dyspnoea were randomly assigned to AE+RMT or AE+RMT groups for an 8-wk intervention (AE: 50min/day, 2 times/wk; RMT: 40min/day, 3 times/wk).
Heart Lung
January 2025
Department of Physical Education, Beijing Wuzi University, Beijing, China. Electronic address:
Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease that significantly impairs the quality of life of patients. Single exercises can help COPD patients focus on enhancing specific physical abilities, and enable a more precise analysis of the specific effects of single exercises on improving exercise capacity in COPD patients.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of single exercises in improving the exercise capacity of COPD patients and to conduct an indirect comparison to identify the most efficacious intervention.
Sensors (Basel)
December 2024
Biomedicine Research Center of Strasbourg (CRBS), UR 3072, "Mitochondria, Oxidative Stress and Muscle Plasticity", Faculty of Medicine, University of Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
The continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation (SpO) and respiratory rates (RRs) are major clinical issues in many cardio-respiratory diseases and have been of tremendous importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The early detection of hypoxemia was crucial since it precedes significant complications, and SpO follow-up allowed early hospital discharge in patients needing oxygen therapy. Nevertheless, fingertip devices showed some practical limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutrients
December 2024
Laboratories and Research Departments, Institute of Innovative Biomedical Technology, 2 Inčukalna Street, LV-1014 Riga, Latvia.
This study addresses the growing interest in nutritional supplements that improve athletic performance in endurance sports. Previous research suggests that nitrates in beetroot juice enhance blood vessel dilation and oxygen delivery to muscles. However, the effects of these nitrates on cardiopulmonary performance in female athletes remain underexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
December 2024
Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Aging disrupts multiple homeostatic processes, including autophagy, a cellular process for the recycling and degradation of defective cytoplasmic structures. Acute treatment with the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine blunts the maximal forces generated by the diaphragm muscle, but the mechanisms underlying neuromuscular dysfunction in old age remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that chloroquine treatment increases the presynaptic retention of the styryl dye FM 4-64 following high-frequency nerve stimulation, consistent with the accumulation of unprocessed bulk endosomes.
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