Cardiopulmonary and Muscular Interactions: Potential Implications for Exercise (In)tolerance in Symptomatic Smokers Without Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Journal: Frontiers in Physiology
Year: 2019

Smoking and physical inactivity are important preventable causes of disability and early death worldwide. Reduced exercise tolerance has been described in smokers, even in those who do not fulfill the extant physiological criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and are not particularly sedentary. In this context, it is widely accepted that exercise capacity depends on complex cardio-pulmonary interactions which support oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) delivery to muscle mitochondria. Alt