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Regular lung exercises can help diminish the breathlessness associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but they require expensive training and patient support. A group of British physicians hypothesized that blowing up a balloon could be an inexpensive substitute for such exercises. They tested their hypothesis in a randomized trial of 28 patients with spirometrically documented severe COPD (FEV1 less than 1 liter).
Thirteen patients were told to inflate a rubber balloon 40 times a day for eight weeks, and the other 15 served as controls. At the beginning and end of the study, each subject was assessed on three outcome measures: distance walked in six minutes, overall sense of well-being, and self-assessment of breathlessn…