Ten thousand steps and more. Wednesday, June 28, Philippe Poncet, under respiratory assistance twenty-four hours a day, will try the bet to start cycling for five hours. It should connect the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome – the headquarters of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) – to Les Invalides, in Paris, during the first stage of this “COPD Tour”. Affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Philippe Poncet embarked on this adventure to sound the alarm. Organized by the association O2&Cie emergency COPDthis tour is the fifth edition. “It’s superhuman”admits Philippe Poncet, who created the association in 2013, but he wants “to inform the general public that COPD is a serious and devastating lung disease which the population must be protected urgently”.
COPD, of which tobacco is the main risk factor, will become, in 2030, the third cause of death in the world. In France, 18,000 people die of it every year. It is characterized by a permanent obstruction of the airways and lungs, resulting in difficulty breathing. Relatively unknown to the general public, it nevertheless affects some 3.5 million people in France (8% of the adult population), but this figure is probably underestimated, a large number of people being diagnosed at a late stage.
During the first edition in 2018, Philippe Poncet, diagnosed in 2008, at the age of 48, climbed the slopes of the Col de l’Espigoulier (Bouches-du-Rhône) under respiratory assistance. He is always surrounded by a medical and sports team. “These are not personal challenges, but to get people talking about this pathology”summarizes this former high-level athlete during adolescence, who trains every day.
It’s a real feat. “Philippe has maintained aerobic capacity – the ability to produce energy using oxygen – which is impressive given his illness. For example, he can develop on a stress test a maximum power of 115 watts where other patients stop at 25 watts », observes Eric Meinadier, medical director of the FFC. “The feat he achieves is also a message to encourage physical activity”explains Professor Bruno Degano, head of the pneumology department at the Grenoble University Hospital, who follows Philippe Poncet.
Physical activity is part of the treatment for COPD, according to the Haute Autorité de santé. It improves respiratory function, even in smokers, showed at the end of 2021 a summary article co-written by Frédéric Costes in the Review of Respiratory Diseases. It also reduces fatigue. The higher the activity, the better the profits.
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