Description:

It is altogether appropriate that we acknowledge the founders of the field of pulmonary rehabilitation, a highly effective therapy for patients with chronic lung disease. This lecture will review the evolution of pulmonary rehabilitation as its physiologic basis was elucidated. Recent developments will also be reviewed and linked to their historical context.

Learning Objectives:

•Recognize the early innovators who defied the common conception that exercise was to be avoided in dyspneic patients with chronic respiratory disease.

•Review how the physiologic benefits of rehabilitative exercise programs were established.

•Consider the implications of the growing scarcity of in-center rehabilitation programs.