COPD

[Anga]

What does 50% dyspena with exerction really mean in the whole picture of COPD?

Thanks Anga

[Davy9]

As you have written it ......it roughly means you get short of breath with exercise. The 50% value should be applied to some measure of exercise or lung function instead of the term dyspnea. Perhaps they mean that the exercise capacity is 50% of predicted but that is just a guess.

Dyspnea is a term that means shortness of breath. It is not on any scale of 1 to 10. It is just descriptive. Everyone has dyspnea with exertion, it just happens at different levels of work.

Some people will get short of breath doing a low level work but not because of their lungs. They get short of breath quickly because their bodies are poorly conditioned. If they get better conditioned they can do more work. Others get short of breath early in exercise because their hearts are unable to meet the workload.

With lung disease people get short of breath earlier because the lungs limit the workload and usually they are out of condition. The determination of lung limitation is often measured by the difference in exhaled versus inhaled gas tensions and blood oxygen levels (usually saturation by oximetry). These people still can condition themselves to do more work using physical therapy. It is called "respiratory rehabilitation". Ask your physician if this may also work for you.