Effects of Exercise Training & Acute Exacerbations on Muscle Function in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Acta Biomedica Lovaniensia)

This is a Ph.D. dissertation. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease state characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles or gases. Clinically, it is characterized by complaints of cough, sputum production, and/or dyspnoea, and diagnosed by a significantly reduced Tiffeneau index. It was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States in 1996, exceeded only by heart attacks, cancers and stroke. Hence, COPD is a major global health problem and its burden on society is growing rapidly. For these reasons, COPD was chosen as a study population in the present project.Martijn A. Spruit is the author of 'Effects of Exercise Training & Acute Exacerbations on Muscle Function in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Acta Biomedica Lovaniensia)', published 2004 under ISBN 9789058674296 and ISBN 9058674290.