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Nutrition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
1Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine
|March 31, 2000
Summary
Weight loss in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is common and impacts patient outcomes. Nutritional support combined with exercise improves function and may decrease mortality in COPD patients.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Nutritional Science
- Metabolic Research
Background:
- Weight loss is a significant complication in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- This weight loss negatively impacts functional capacity, health status, and mortality in COPD patients.
- Elevated energy expenditure due to metabolic and mechanical inefficiency, coupled with inadequate dietary intake, drives weight loss in COPD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of nutritional support in managing weight loss in COPD.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of combined nutritional and exercise interventions on respiratory and peripheral muscle function, and exercise performance.
- To explore the relationship between systemic inflammation, dietary intake, catabolism, and treatment response in COPD.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on nutritional interventions for COPD patients with weight loss.
- Analysis of studies combining oral nutritional supplements with exercise or anabolic stimuli.
- Assessment of patient response to interventions, considering factors like systemic inflammation.
Main Results:
- Nutritional support is indicated for depleted COPD patients, improving respiratory and skeletal muscle function and exercise performance.
- A combination of oral nutritional supplements and exercise/anabolic stimulus shows the most promise for significant functional improvement.
- Patients who responded positively to treatment demonstrated reduced mortality.
- Poor response was linked to systemic inflammation affecting dietary intake and catabolism.
Conclusions:
- Nutritional support is a crucial intervention for weight loss in COPD, directly improving muscle function and exercise capacity.
- Combined nutritional and exercise interventions represent the optimal strategy for functional gains and potentially reduced mortality in COPD.
- Further research is needed to understand and modulate the effects of systemic inflammation on nutritional status and catabolism in COPD.