Cerebral and Cardiac Blood Flow During Exercise in Patients With COPD

Heart disease and conditions related to the blood vessels are responsible for a large proportion (over a quarter) of the deaths in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The changes can also affect the smaller smaller blood vessels within the body, in particular the brain and the kidneys. This might be related to how the heart pumps and if it is under any pressure. Investigations performed at the University in healthy older volunteers demonstrated how the blood flows in the brain and heart during exercise. Exercise gently puts the whole body under some pressure and therefore exposes any weaker areas. In this study the investigators are hoping to find out what happens to the blood flow in the brain and in the heart in patients who have COPD when they exercise and in the resting state. This will be compared to people of a similar age with a similar smoking history but without COPD. This will be examined using state of the art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and will allow us to assess whether changes in structure and function are related to this altered blood flow. Our hypothesis is that COPD will cause a larger change in blood flow during exercise compared to the healthy volunteers and that reduced cardiorespiratory fitness will be associated with increased age related structural within the brain.