ZuWallack - Figure 18
The Effect of Training on the Responses to Indentical Levels of Heavy Exercise in COPD Patients
FIG. 18: The Table in this Figure summarizes the results of the study by Casaburi et al.[14] The group that exercised at a high work rate increased their exercise duration from 6.6 min to 11.4 min, a statistically significant difference (P<0.005) and almost a doubling of exercise capacity. The group that worked at a low rate but for longer increased their exercise capacity only a little bit, and these differences in exercise capacity were significant between the two groups (P<0.05).
The three upper rows of the Table show data at isotime (i.e., equal energy-expenditure levels), the high work rate training group reduced their mean lactate from 6.0 to 4.0 mmol/L, compared with a significantly lower (P<0.005) drop in the low work rate group, indicating that there was a physiologic benefit from high-intensity exercise training in patients with COPD.
This was a small study with 19 patients, but it showed that COPD patients who were thought to be pump limited and unable to get a physiologic benefit from exercise could, in fact, have a dose-related physiologic benefit from exercise. So although it was a such a small study, it had a large impact.
References
Casaburi R, Patessio A, Ioli F, et al. Reductions in exercise lactic acidosis and ventilation as a result of exercise training in patients with obstructive lung disease. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1991;143:9–18.
