Nutrition
Patients with COPD are at risk of weight loss and nutritional deficiencies and a reduction in body mass index is an independent risk factor for mortality in such patients. Increased calorie intake is best accompanied by exercise regimes that have a non-specific anabolic action.
Patients with poorer nutritional status have a worse prognosis, so it is prudent to recommend a balanced diet with adequate caloric intake in conjunction with exercise to prevent or reverse malnutrition and muscle atrophy.
Reference
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Global Initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease: Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD.
2011.
www.goldcopd.org