Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a treatable respiratory condition that is only partially reversible. The primary cause of COPD is smoking which leads to airway inflammation and oxidative damage to the lungs, which has been linked to the development and progression of the disease. The inflammation is not isolated to the lungs as patients with COPD also have systemic inflammation that has been linked to a number of cardiovascular comorbidities such as endothelial dysfunction, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Evidence demonstrates that COPD patients have a greater incidence of vascular dysfunction and adverse vascular remodeling, which worsens with disease severity. In fact, patients with COPD are at 35 times greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease and stroke than healthy aged matched individuals. In healthy individuals and a number of chronic conditions, aerobic exercise training is well established to reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. The benefits of exercise are likely through improvements in endothelial function, systemic inflammation, and cardiac and cerebral vascular function. However, whether exercise training can have the same effects in a chronic inflammatory condition like COPD has not been studied. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of an 8 week aerobic exercise training program in patient's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as determined by improvements in endothelial function, systemic inflammation and cardiac and cerebral vascular function.
