The people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should walk 3 to 6 kilometers daily to guard against seizures and hospitalizations according to the results of a news published in the journal Respirology.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by slow and progressive airway obstruction, ultimately causing chronic respiratory failure and regular hospitalizations. Researchers at Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital in Bilbao assessed whether changes in physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affect the rate of hospitalizations.
3 to 6 kilometers per day to protect yourself
They studied the habits and physical activity of 543 patients. The researchers found that people who maintained a level of fitness between moderate and intense (estimated between 3 and 6 kilometers per day) had a lower risk of hospitalization. On the other hand, patients who did not play sports regularly, or not regularly enough, increased their risk of being hospitalized.
“Patients with COPD are less likely to have regular physical activity than healthy people. However, regular exercise is associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization for people with exacerbated COPD and mortality. less in patients with COPD“, explained Dr. Cristóbal Esteban, co-author of the study.
“Indeed, even a limited level of physical activity, such as walking two hours a week, is associated with a lower risk of hospitalization for these same patients.”
The results of this study provide a simple solution to implement for reduce the risk of hospitalizationincreasing numbers of COPD patients.
40,000 new patients are declared each year in France. And 3.5 million people are affected in France, including 100,000 patients on oxygen at home. This disease causes 16,000 deaths each year. COPD could become the third leading cause of death in the world.