Reduced inspiratory muscle strength is common in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is associated with dyspnea and decreased exercise capacity. Most studies of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in COPD have demonstrated increased inspiratory muscle strength. Many have also shown improvements in dyspnea and exercise capacity. However, a persisting challenge when transla...

Respiratory muscle dysfunction is associated with prolonged and difficult weaning from mechanical ventilation. This dysfunction in ventilator-dependent patients is multifactorial: there is evidence that inspiratory muscle weakness is partially explained by disuse atrophy secondary to ventilation, and positive end-expiratory pressure can further reduce muscle strength by negatively shifting the ...

Weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation is a complex, time-consuming process that involves the loss of force/generating capacity of the inspiratory muscle. In their study 'Inspiratory muscle strength training improves the outcome in failure to wean patients: a randomized trial', Martin and colleagues showed that the use of an inspiratory muscle strength program increased the maximal inspi...

Respiratory muscle strength training (RMST) focuses on increasing the force-generating capacity of the inspiratory and expiratory muscles. The choice of respiratory muscles that are targeted using RMST depends on the outcome desired. For example, if an individual has reduced inspiratory muscle strength due to a neurogenic injury and is unable to ventilate the lungs, then inspiratory muscle stre...

BACKGROUND/AIMS This study examines the feasibility of a preoperative exercise program to improve the physical fitness of a patient before gastrointestinal surgery. METHODS An outpatient exercise program was developed to increase preoperative aerobic capacity, peripheral muscle endurance and respiratory muscle function in patients with pancreatic, liver, intestinal, gastric or esophageal canc...

D espite the obvious partnership of the lungs and the respiratory muscles in ventilation and gas exchange, only within the past 10 years has the possible contribution ofthe respiratory muscles to chronic respiratory failure been investigated in any detail. The opinion has been challenged that the respiratory muscles, albeit a vital pump, are not immune to fatigue.' Increase in the elastic and r...

BACKGROUND Specific respiratory muscle training can improve respiratory muscle function in patients with COPD, but the magnitude of improvement appears dependent on the magnitude of the training load. High training loads are difficult to achieve using conventional, constant loading techniques, but may be possible using interval-based training techniques. METHODS To assess the feasibility of h...