Participation in regular physical activity, with the goal of enhancing functional ability and fitness, is associated with measurable health-enhancing and psychologic benefits. Various types of exercise are now actively prescribed by the medical community for the prevention and treatment of a number of diseases.<sup>66 Exercise for Prevention and Treatment of Illness Philadelphia: FA Davis (1994). 

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Obstructive pulmonary disease, including both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, is a significant cause of functional disability in older adults that is often characterized clinically by progressive breathlessness and increasing physical limitations. Whether exercise training improves aerobic capacity in elderly COPD patients and, in some cases, those with reactive airway disease, still remains unclear.<sup>100 O'Donnell D.E., Sanii R., Younes M. Improvement in exercise endurance in patients with chronic airflow limitation using continuous positive airway pressure Am Rev Respir Dis 1988 ;  138 : 1510

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Earlier studies failed to demonstrate this effect, but more recent investigations <sup>40 Casaburi R., Patessio P., Ioli F. , e al. Reductions in exercise lactic acidosis and ventilation as a result of exercise training in patients with obstructive lung disease Am Rev Respir Dis 1991 ;  143 : 9

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 51 Degre S., Sergysels R., Messin R. , e al. Hemodynamic responses to physical training in patients with chronic lung disease Am Rev Respir Dis 1974 ;  110 : 395

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> using higher levels of intensity or longer duration of training appear to improve functional capacity in older patients with moderate obstructive lung disease (Table 1). In this article we examine how asthma, or reactive airflow obstruction, alters physical capacity and human performance in the elderly, and the role of exercise training in the management of reactive airways disease among older patients.