TUESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Children and teenagers with cystic fibrosis (CF) may benefit from an individually tailored exercise program, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from April 30 to May 3 in Denver.
Shruti Paranjape, M.D., of the John Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, and colleagues assigned an individualized exercise program to 58 children with CF, ages 6 to 16 years. The subjects provided information on their daily routine and preferred physical activities, and the researchers developed the exercise recommendations based on their answers. The investigators compared lung function and exercise tolerance among the CF patients before and after the assigned two-month program.
After completion of the individualized program, the investigators found that patients were able to perform seven more 10-meter walking intervals during an exercise tolerance test, on average, than they were prior to completing the exercise program. In addition, all subjects had small increases in pulmonary function tests, but those who increased their exercise capacity by 10 or more walking intervals showed a higher improvement in lung function scores (by 5 percent or more).
"Exercise, even when informal and unstructured, not only appears to improve lung status in children with CF, but goes a long way toward benefiting their overall health, self-perception and emotional well-being," Paranjape said in a statement.
Abstract No. 4445.2
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