Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common, preventable and treatable disease. Characterised by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation, it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Globally, COPD is projected to be the 3rd leading cause of death by 2020. In Ireland, 110,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease but it is estimated that there may be about 200,000 people living with the condition who remain undiagnosed.
Low inspiratory capacity, chronic breathlessness and reduced exercise tolerance are independent predictors of mortality in COPD. A key cause of exercise intolerance is breathlessness, due to expiratory flow limitation (EFL), dynamic lung hyperinflation (DH) and reduced inspiratory capacity (IC).
A key goal of the treatment of patients with COPD is to improve breathlessness. Understanding the mechanisms behind (DH) and its impact on exercise tolerance is key to achieving this goal and enhancing quality of life in impacted patients.
Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is the gold standard method for evaluating the cardiovascular and respiratory health in this population. However a standard CPET provides limited information on the mechanisms behind the altered ventilatory response to exercise.
The aim of this project is to determine if DH can be assessed using a standardised constant work-rate exercise test on a stationary cycle ergometer and if the results of this test can differentiate between COPD patients and healthy controls. The results of this research may help to identify different COPD phenotypes and may provide evidence for alternative training prescription.