Five women and three men, all obese and weighing 95 to 140 kg, were studied by routine pulmonary function tests and by a radioactive xenon technique, while seated upright at rest, to measure the regional ventilation and perfusion distribution in the lung. In four subjects in whom the expiratory reserve volume averaged 49% of predicted normal, the ventilation distribution as measured with (133)x...

INTRODUCTION Obesity can cause deleterious effects on respiratory function and impair health and quality of life. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of obesity on the pulmonary function of adult women. METHODS An obese group, constituted of 20 women between 20 and 35 years old with a BMI of 35 - 49.99 kg/m(2) who were non-smokers and sedentary and had no lung disease were recruited. The non-...

Accessible online at: www.karger.com/res ‘Flow limitation’ is an expression classically used to indicate that there is a reduction in the maximal expiratory flows that may be attained during the forced vital capacity (FVC) maneuver. It is measured from the ratio FEV1/VC, which dates back to Tiffeneau, where FEV1 is the forced expiratory volume in the first second and VC is the slow expiratory v...

INTRODUCTION Thixotropy is a passive property of the skeletal muscle that depends on the muscle's immediate history of contraction and length change. Inspiratory-muscle thixotropy affects the end-expiratory position of the rib cage in normal subjects. OBJECTIVE To determine whether a reduction in end-expiratory chest-wall volume occurs after thixotropy conditioning of inspiratory muscles in p...

[Purpose] This study investigated the effects of self-stretching of cervical muscles, because the accessory inspiratory muscle is considered to improve pulmonary function. [Subjects] The subjects were 30 healthy university students 19-21 years old who did not have any lung disease, respiratory dysfunction, cervical injury, or any problems upon cervical stretching. [Methods] Spirometry was used ...

BACKGROUND Breathing pattern description and chest wall kinematics during phonation have not been studied in male and female patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. OBJECTIVES We used optoelectronic plethysmography to provide a quantitative description of breathing pattern and chest wall kinematics. METHODS Volumes of chest wall compartments (rib cage and abdomen) were assessed...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine whether place running exercises increase the pulmonary function of normal adults. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty normal adults in their 20s were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=15) or a control group (n=15). Over the course of four weeks, the experimental group participated in place running exercise for 30 minutes five times per ...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine whether proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) respiration exercise increases the pulmonary function of normal adults. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-eight normal adults in their 20s were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=14) or control group (n=14). Over the course of four weeks, the experimental group participated in PNF...

BACKGROUND Prolonged slow expiration (PSE) is a physiotherapy technique often applied in infants to reduce pulmonary obstruction and clear secretions, but there have been few studies of PSE's effects on the respiratory system. OBJECTIVE To describe PSE's effects on respiratory mechanics in infants. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study with 18 infants who had histories of recurrent ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of obesity on lung volume and capacity in children and adolescents. DATA SOURCE This is a systematic review, carried out in Pubmed, Lilacs, Scielo and PEDro databases, using the following Keywords: Plethysmography; Whole Body OR Lung Volume Measurements OR Total Lung Capacity OR Functional Residual Capacity OR Residual Volume AND Obesity. Observational studies ...