Medical & Clinical Research

Author(s): Amine Meridj, Redouan Belala, Khaled Tlili and Yacine Djeghri

COPD is à major public health challenge and major source of chronic disease and death across the globe. Estimating the prevalence of COPD is complex, as it requires cohorts of patients representative of the population using spirometric measurements. COPD is associated with many comorbidities, including lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cachexia and muscle weakness are the most serious and common.

COPD is à known complication of peripheral muscle dysfunction, which is associated with exercise intolerance and a darker prognosis. It is interesting to evaluate the peripheral muscle integrity in patients with COPD.

Usually, the doctors pulmonologists who manage patients with COPD, neglect the comorbidities and especially the muscular damage often associated with this systemic pathology. Despite the fact that the recommendations of the learned societies continue to encourage research and management of all comorbidities associated with COPD the efforts of treating physicians should not only focus on the medical treatment of COPD patients. But they should also look into all comorbidities and try to assess the overall impact of COPD on body musculature. Comparing different muscle groups and studying the potential benefits of targeted muscle rehabilitation. This could include specific exercises to strengthen not only the respiratory muscles (diaphragm), but also locomotor muscles such as the quadriceps.