Taste Sensitivity and Nutrition in COPD Rehabilitation.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a chronic disease of the lungs
characterized by persistent airflow obstruction resulting from inflammation and remodeling of
the airways, and may include development of emphysema. Inflammatory activation
in COPD induces a hypermetabolic state, characterized by catabolic and
anabolic imbalance, which results in weight loss, commonly seen in patients with COPD.
Weight loss and low body weight are independent risk factors of morbidity and mortality in such patients.
One possible reason for weight loss in patients with COPD is altered taste sensitivity. Because patients with COPD
may need to consume additional energy to maintain or gain weight, the taste sensory quality of meals becomes important.
Pulmonary rehabilitation is known to lead to improved exercise performance in patients with COPD. However, the relationship between pulmonary rehabilitation and taste sensitivity has not been evaluated. Therefore, we compared taste sensitivity before and after pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD.
The six-min walk distance, COPD assessment test, and taste test were
conducted before and after 4-week comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation. Three taste thresholds were significantly lower at the end of the PR program than at the beginning.
Each patient with COPD took part in the PR program, which consisted of a 20-min class one
or more times a day. The exercise training consisted of walking on a treadmill, stair climbing,
and ergometer cycling. Frequency of the training program was 5 times a week for 4 weeks.
The intensity of the training program was 60-70% of peak work rate. Following pulmonary
rehabilitation, the 6 MWD, COPD assessment test, salty recognition threshold, sweet recognition threshold and bitter recognition threshold improved significantly, whereas there were no significant improvements in body mass index or sour recognition threshold.
Pulm Res Respir Med Open J. 2016; 3(1): e1-e2. doi: 10.17140/PRRMOJ-3-e004
