PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jerome A. Dempsey
AU  - Curtis A. Smith
TI  - Pathophysiology of human ventilatory control
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00048514
DP  - 2014 Aug 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 495--512
VI  - 44
IP  - 2
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/2/495.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/2/495.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Aug 01; 44
AB  - We review the substantial recent progress made in understanding the underlying mechanisms controlling breathing and the applicability of these findings to selected human diseases. Emphasis is placed on the sites of central respiratory rhythm and pattern generation as well as newly described functions of the carotid chemoreceptors, the integrative nature of the central chemoreceptors, and the interaction between peripheral and central chemoreception. Recent findings that support critical contributions from cortical central command and muscle afferent feedback to exercise hyperpnoea are also reviewed. These basic principles, and the evidence supporting chemoreceptor and ventilatory control system plasticity during and following constant and intermittent hypoxaemia and stagnant hypoxia, are applied to: 1) the pathogenesis, consequences and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea; and 2) exercise hyperpnoea and its control and limitations with ageing, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. We review control of breathing in humans and how new findings lead to novel treatments in sleep apnoea, CHF and COPD http://ow.ly/weJ7A