Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from decreased physical activity over time, a new research has revealed. According to scientists, `physical inactivity further worsens the breathing problem in the patients.
COPD also known as chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) is a type of obstructive lung disease that causes breathing problems including shortness of breath, cough and sputum production over time. Mostly caused by tobacco smoking, factors like genetics and air pollution also contribute to the disease.
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.
Researchers noted reduction in energy expenditure per day by 76 kcal, step covered per day by 393 and daily physical activity level (PAL) by 0.04 per year. Reduced PAL is linked with poor airflow this further increases woes for patients already suffering from breathing problems. In addition, reduced physical activity is linked with obesity which might trigger several other diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
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.The study was published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Source: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease linked with physical inactivity, says study
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