title: Respiratory muscle training on pulmonary and swallowing function in patients with Huntington's disease: a pilot randomised controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effects of 4-month of respiratory muscle training on pulmonary and swallowing function, exercise capacity and dyspnoea in manifest patients with Huntington's disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pilot randomised controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Home based training program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen manifest Huntington's disease patients with a positive genetic test and clinically verified disease expression, were randomly assigned to control group (n=9) and training group (n=9).
  
  
  METHODS
  Both groups received home-based inspiratory (5 sets of 5 repetitions) and expiratory (5 sets of 5 repetitions) muscle training 6 times a week for 4 months. The control group used a fixed resistance of 9 centimeters of water, and the training group used a progressively increased resistance from 30% to 75% of each patient's maximum respiratory pressure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spirometric indices, maximum inspiratory pressure, maximum expiratory pressure, six minutes walk test, dyspnoea, water-swallowing test and swallow quality of life questionnaire were assessed before, at 2 and 4 months after training.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The magnitude of increases in maximum inspiratory (d=2.9) and expiratory pressures (d=1.5), forced vital capacity (d=0.8), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (d=0.9) and peak expiratory flow (d=0.8) was substantially greater for the training group in comparison to the control group. Changes in swallowing function, dyspnoea and exercise capacity were small (d ≤ 0.5) for both groups without substantial differences between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A home-based respiratory muscle training program appeared to be beneficial to improve pulmonary function in manifest Huntington's disease patients but provided small effects on swallowing function, dyspnoea and exercise capacity.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia alvaroreyesponce@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cruickshank
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise and Health Sciences, Centre for Exercise and Sports Science Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nosaka
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Mel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001945:Breathing Exercises / Q000379:methods*; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008451:Maximal Voluntary Ventilation / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013147:Spirometry; D014904:Western Australia
keywords: Huntington’s disease; Respiratory function; dysphagia; pulmonary rehabilitation; swallowing