Airwaves
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It is recognised that standard physiological indices poorly predict prognosis in COPD. There has been much interest in extra-pulmonary manifestations of COPD, especially skeletal muscle weakness that is commonly found in COPD. In this month’s Thorax we publish a study by Swallow and colleagues relating quadriceps muscle strength to COPD mortality. The results show that quadriceps maximal voluntary contraction force measured in COPD patients is a powerful prognostic factor. This result is consistent with previous observations that exercise capacity also determines COPD mortality. The authors conclude that this easily performed measure may identify COPD patients at greater risk of death. In the accompanying editorial Steiner points out that the situation is particularly complex in that the skeletal muscle dysfunction occurs on a background of age related sarcopenia (Steiner also explains that the term sarcopenia originates from Greek and means "poverty of the flesh"). More understanding of these mechanisms is now
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