[The nutritional status and respiratory function of patients diagnosed with COPD]

Given that patients affected with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease show a progressive weight loss, and the great socioeconomic repercussions of these diseases due to their high incidence in the general population, we started this study with the objective of analyzing the possible connection between the nutritional state and the ventilatory function of a group of patients from our midst, who did not have continuous oxygen therapy at home. We studied a total of 43 patients who had been diagnosed with COPD (excluding those with a BMI < 32), evaluating anthropometric, biochemical and pulmonary function parameters. Among the obtained results, it should be noted that 84% of the patients were normally nourished and only 16% were undernourished. In the lung function analysis, we found a pattern of air flow obstruction. We found a significant correlation between the nutritional state and the type of COPD (p < 0.01), with the emphysematous patients being more undernourished than those suffering from bronchial disease. We also found a significant correlation between the types of COPD and the levels of prealbumin, RBP and albumin, and a positive correlation between the evolution time of the disease and the levels of albumin, PO2 and FEV1. With the obtained results, we do not consider it necessary to establish a nutritional support protocol in ambulatory patients suffering from COPD, whose conditions are similar to those of the patients in our study group.