30 Nov PERF Monthly Newsletter – November 2016
NOVEMBER 2016
Here is a roundup of the articles, news & updates that we've published on the PERF blog site during the past month. Click on the "Read More" link at the bottom of each excerpt to read the full article.
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Frailty and Exercise Therapy For COPD Patients
Older patients with COPD are twice as likely to suffer from frailty as the general population of older people. In a recent study of 816 COPD patients, one in four were found to be frail using the Fried criteria (that incorporates weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, slowness, and weakness), even though the mean age of the group was only 70. This is a challenge for the efficacy of exercise therapy, as many frail patients will discontinue their exercise program precisely because they are frail.
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November Is COPD Awareness Month
This is the month when the COPD Foundation celebrates COPD Awareness Month, an internationally recognized annual event to make more people aware of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Both the COPD foundation and various respiratory health organizations are hosting online and in-person activities to inform, encourage, and support COPD community members and their families, friends, and loved ones.
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Emphysema Athletes
By the late Thomas L. Petty, MD
Former PERF Board Member
and prolific author of “Letters from Dr. Thomas Petty“
Dear Friends:
I doubt that many who read this believe that I’m serious about the title of this month’s message – but I am. Everyone is aware that patients with emphysema are short of breath whenever they exert beyond certain individual limits. Doctors have a term for this, Dyspnea (literally bad breathing) On Exertion, abbreviated DOE.
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Preparing For Your Doctor Visit For Treatment of COPD
By Mary Burns, RN, BS
PERF Executive Vice President
Sally writes that it has been more than 10 years since she has seen a doctor. Even though she quit smoking a year ago, she has been feeling short of breath lately. Reluctantly, and rather nervously, she has made an appointment with a physician. She wonders if we can tell her what to expect, or if we have any suggestions that will make it a little easier to face that physical? We’ll try!
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Non-Invasive Ventilation for COPD Patients
When a patient requires mechanical assistance to breathe, the choices are invasive mechanical ventilation (use of an endotracheal tube or tracheostomy tube – also referred to as intubation) or noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV). Luckily for patients’ comfort, NIV has become a replacement for invasive ventilation in certain situations in both acute and chronic respiratory failure.
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Please Donate to PERF and Help Keep Our Programs and Research Going
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