COPD: eat smart and breathe easy

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MunichWhat a person eats has a direct influence on his lung function: At least COPD patients were significantly more productive 24 hours after consuming certain foods and had fewer complaints than usual.

"Diet played a role both in the development of the lung disease COPD and in the patient's medical condition - and we can easily influence it," says study director Corinne Hanson.

Accurate nutrition protocols

The researcher and her colleagues had evaluated the data from COPD sufferers who had participated in the so-called ECLIPSE study. Some of the patients recorded what they had consumed in the previous 24 hours at eight different times over the course of three years. The researchers compared this information from the 2167 participants with the results of various tests that are used to assess COPD. In addition to examining lung function, this included the 6-minute walk test, which shows which distance a patient can cover in this period of time, the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and various biomarkers from the blood that indicate inflammatory processes.

The right foods

The result: Participants who stated that they had recently consumed fish, grapefruit, bananas or cheese showed improved lung function and significantly fewer inflammatory substances in their blood. Her performance on the 6-minute walk test and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire also improved.

"The study shows the almost immediate effect that a healthy diet can have on lung function," explains Hanson. The aim is to examine the influence of food as a controllable risk factor in COPD in more detail.

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a chronic disease of the lungs caused by inflamed and permanently narrowed airways. It is estimated that around one percent of the total population suffers from COPD, and more than ten percent of those over 40 years of age. The main risk factor for the disease is smoking. (cf)

Source: C. Hanson et al .: Dietary Intake Is Associated With Lung Function In The Eclipse Cohort, Scientific Abstract

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