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Updated: May 14, 2026

Home-Based Prescribed Pulmonary Exercise in Patients with Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published on: August 24, 2019
Influence of a moderate physical activity intervention on red cell deformability in patients suffering from chronic
Basit Ahmad1, Nina Ferrari, Georgina Montiel
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Sport Medicine, Institute for Cardiovascular Research and Sport Medicine, German Sport University Cologne, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933 Cologne, Germany. Brixius@dshs-koeln.de
Abstract:
The present study investigates whether a moderate physical activity intervention may alter red cell deformability (RCD) of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Subjects (n = 10; age: 62 ± 4; body-mass index (BMI): 25.8 ± 7.5) performed a training regimen for 10 weeks. In the beginning of the study and after the training period, COPD patients underwent a WHO cycle ergometry test. Venous blood samples were taken before (T0), immediately after (T1) and 30 min after (T2) the intervention. RCD was measured with the laser-assisted optical rotational cell analyzer (LORCA). Significant improvements of the RCD were detected. The semi-maximal shear stress increased significantly. Acute exhaustion had no effect on RCD. Thus, the training period of 10 weeks influenced RCD.
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