Role of natural juice in improving the ventilatory functions of smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Amal Saad a; Amr Mostafa b; Khadiga Ibrahim a a Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt b Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt Abstract Purpose. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease related to smoking. Oxidative stress and antioxidant status may play an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD. The aims of the present study were to determine the pathogenic effects of oxidative stress and antioxidant status in COPD smokers, and the role of dietary antioxidant supplementation in the ventilatory function tests (VFT) of the COPD smokers. Design. This study comprised two phases. The first phase explored oxidative stress and antioxidant status and its relationship with the ventilatory functions of COPD diagnosed smokers. The second phase was a self-controlled clinical trial to study the changes in the oxidative-antioxidant status and the VFT of the COPD smoking patients after dietary supplementation with freshly prepared juice for 30 days. Methods. Personal, occupational and medical questionnaires, a clinical examination, VFT, serum antioxidants (vitamin A, C and E and -carotene), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results. There was a significant correlation between vitamin E and the ventilatory functions of the COPD smokers at baseline. After supplementation, the ventilatory functions were significantly improved. Plasma vitamin A, C and E, -carotene and SOD were also significantly increased. The level of MDA was significantly decreased. Conclusions. Daily fresh juice supplementation provides correction of the antioxidant status and significantly improves the VFT of COPD smokers. DOI: 10.1080/13590840701211219 Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine, , Volume 16, Issue 1 February 2007 , pages 16 - 25 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.