Pulmonary Rehabilitation Using Regular Physical Exercise for the Management of Patients with Asthma

Abstract

Background: Regular physical activity increases physical fi tness and lowers ventilation during mild and moderate exercise thereby reducing the likelihood of provoking exercise-induced asthma. Regular exercise may also reduce the perception of breathlessness through a number of mechanisms including strengthening respiratory muscles. Subjectively, many asthmatics report that they are symptomatically better when fi t, but results from trials have varied and have been diffi cult to compare because of different designs and training protocols.Objectives: To assess evidence for the effi cacy and effectiveness of regular physical training in patients with asthma. We searched the Cochrane database, Medline, Sportdiscus and Science citation index. Randomised trials in asthmatic patients undertaking regular physical training aged 7 years and older were considered for inclusion. Regular physical training had to involve at least 20 minutes, 2 to 3 times a week, over a minimum of four weeks. Results:Eight studies could be included in this review. Physical exercise had no effect on resting lung function or the number of days of wheeze. Physical exercise improved cardiopulmonary fi tness as measured by an increase in maximum oxygen uptake of 4.9 ml/kg/min (95% confi dence interval 3.9 to 5.8). Regular exercise did not decrease any lung function measures. There were no data concerning quality of life measurements. Conclusion:In patients with asthma, pulmonary rehabilitation using regular exercise improves cardiopulmonary fi tness without changing lung function. There is no reason to withhold regular physical exercise in patients with asthma for the fear of deteriorating lung function. It is not known whether improved fi tness is translated into improved quality of life. https://www.peertechz.comchronically infl amed with a typical infl ammatory infi ltrate, and that infl ammatory processes are important in causing the main characteristics of asthma of airways obstruction and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. As a result of infl ammation the airways are hyper-responsive and they narrow easily in response to a wide range of stimuli. This may result in coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath with symptoms often worse at night. Narrowing of the airways is usually reversible with appropriate pharmacological intervention, but in patients with chronic infl ammatory condition it leads to irreversible airfl ow obstruction [1][2][3]. Characteristic pathology of asthmatic airways displays lung hyperinfl ation, smooth muscle hypertrophy, mucosal edema, lamina thickening, epithelial cell sloughing, cilia disruption and mucus hyper-secretion. Its pathology is further characterized by the presence of increased numbers of eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and plasma cells in the bronchial tissues, bronchial secretions, and mucus.