Dr. Sherri Katz, Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute, answers the question of whether twice-daily lung volume recruitment exercises reduces the decline in lung function in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in early disease. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a progressive neuromuscular disease that presents in childhood. It involves weakness of muscles, including the breathing muscles.
The randomized clinical trial was conducted at nine pediatric hospitals across Canada, with the CHEO Research Institute being the lead site. The study discovered that over a two-year period there was no real difference between those who used the lung volume recruitment exercises twice a day and those who did not in terms of how quickly their lung function declined. This means the burden associated with routine lung volume recruitment exercises may outweigh the benefit for individuals with relatively normal lung function.
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