AlignMap In Cites
AlignMap In Cites offers annotated links to web sites, news, research, and other material relevant to treatment adherence & patient compliance. AlignMap In Cites, the AlignMap Web Site, the AlignMap Weblog, and the AlignMap Furl Archive are produced by Allan Showalter, MD
Apr 16, 2008
10:24am
Computer feedback can help with lung disease
Excerpt: A computer feedback system can help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) breathe better and improve their exercise capacity, according to a report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. … ” Patients with COPD frequently practice pursed lip breathing, which prolongs exhalation, We thought if patients could have some visual feedback (with a computer system), we could teach them to do this better.” The visual feedback system …monitors patients’ breathing during exercise. As the patient breathes, the speed and depth of breathing is presented graphically on the computer monitor along with set goals for inhaling more slowly and exhaling more completely. …Testing at the end of the trial showed that patients who trained with the feedback system were able to exercise longer than those in the other groups. Such patients also increased their exhalation times to a greater extent than other patients and they were the only group to reduce the over-inflation of the lung that occurred during exercise.
SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, April 15, 2008.
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