Quality rehab programs utilize the skills of a multidisciplinary team including respiratory therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, social workers, physicians, exercise physiologists, and others. In fact, exercise may be the most important factor in keeping or improving your quality of life. A person with COPD experiences shortness of breath, which is uncomfortable. In order to avoid shortness of breath, a person may become more and more sedentary. Unfortunately, a sedentary lifestyle leads to deconditioned muscles.
Deconditioned muscles use more oxygen than toned muscles.
Even the simplest of everyday tasks become difficult. Exercise can help reverse this devastating effect. People with well-toned muscles utilize oxygen better. For a safe start to an exercise program, it is important to undergo certain testing. Pulmonary rehab programs offer this kind of testing.