The Effect of Physical Effort on Some Blood Components and the Level of Dyspnea in Patients with Chest Wall Disease for Smokers and Non-Smokers

Abstract

Chest wall disorders are a group of thoracic deformities that result in inefficient coupling between the respiratory muscles and the thoracic cage. The disorders are usually characterized by a restrictive defect and share the potential of long term hypercapnic respiratory failure, the most common chest wall abnormality leading to respiratory failure is Thoracoplasty, Scoliosis and/or kyphoscoliosis may also cause severe respiratory failure, symptoms of respiratory failure include: dyspnoea on exertion, peripheral oedema, orthopnoea, repeated chest infections, morning headaches, fatigue, poor sleep quality and loss of appetite.
Dyspnea is the term generally applied to sensations experienced by individuals who complain of unpleasant or uncomfortable respiratory sensations such as chest wall diseases, Many definitions of dyspnea have been offered, including: “difficult, labored, uncomfortable breathing” an “awareness of respiratory distress”, “the sensation of feeling breathless or experiencing air hunger”, and “an uncomfortable sensation of breathing”(Wright., and Branscomb., 1954, Wasserman., and Cassaburi., 1988, Simon., et al., 1989).
The sensation experienced by an individual during physical effort will evoke very different reactions than the same sensation occurring at rest, physical effort is impact in symptoms of dyspnea, quality of life, and functional capacity in patients with chest wall diseases who continuous with smoking more than non-smoking and may also have a favorable impact on mortality and hospitalizations, the sensation of dyspnea is increased in patients with chest wall diseases by routine duties which require arm and leg use, especially activities which involve high effort (Breslin, 1992).
Tobacco smoking is the main etiological factor for the development of chest wall diseases, cigarette smoking is estimated in western societies to account for around 85% of the risk of developing chest wall diseases, Eagan et al. (2004) reported that the risks of dyspnea, cough, wheezing and mucous production are increased by active cigarette smoking and that these features are directly related to the amount of cigarettes smoked.