Poor dyspnea perception might be a risk factor for developing asthma exacerbations. We investigated whether severe asthmatics with recurrent exacerbations (brittle asthma) have different dyspnea perception and sputum cells compared with equally severe, but stable asthmatics, or patients with mild steroid-naive asthma. Fifteen brittle asthmatics (13 female, median age 28 yr [range, 20 to 47 yr])...

It is well recognized that exercise is good for health especially as it's known to prevent metabolic syndromes such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. To reap the benefits from exercise the most appropriate level of intensity must be determined, the level of intensity ranging from low, low to moderate to hard (vigorous). This study is aimed to 1. To investigate and evaluate 3 subjecti...

BACKGROUND The inhalation of normal or hypertonic saline during sputum induction (SI) may act as an indirect bronchoconstrictive stimulus leading to dyspnea and lung function deterioration. Our aim was to assess dyspnea and adverse events in COPD patients who undergo SI following a safety protocol. METHODS Sputum was induced by normal and hypertonic (4.5%) saline solution in 65 patients with ...

1. The intensity of breathlessness during exercise was measured in ten normal subjects using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a Borg scale to compare the use of the scales and their repeatability, both within the duration of a period of exercise and between tests. For each scale, subjects performed two exercise tests separated by a period of 2-6 weeks. Each exercise test consisted of two cycle...

INTRODUCTION The six-minute walk test (6WT) has been proposed to be a submaximal test, but could actually demand a high level of exercise intensity from the patient, expressed by a respiratory quotient >1.0, following the guideline recommendations. Standardizing the 6WT using the Borg scale was proposed to make sure that all patients undergo a submaximal walking test. PURPOSE To test the repr...