Chronic lung disease lowers physical activity

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from decreased physical activity over time, a new research has revealed. The findings were published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The study was conducted over 137 patients with COPD and 26 patients with chronic bronchitis. For the study, researchers observed association between the disease progression and change in physical activity. After analysing the data, study authors found that physical activity was significantly reduced among the patients with COPD over the time.

"Physical inactivity is associated with morbidity and mortality in COPD," said lead author Benjamin Waschki from the Pulmonary Research Institute at LungenClinic in Grosshansdorf, Germany.

This decline in physical activity is accompanied by a worsening of lung function and health status, and sustained physical inactivity is associated with progression of both exercise intolerance and muscle depletion, the study noted.

Researchers recommended patients with chronic lung disease to do exercise regularly at all levels of severity as it might help them against breathing problems, also it might improve quality of life a patient lives.

By Lizitha