playing an instrument

My mother has a lot of health problems, the main ones being congestive heart failure and diabetes.  I know she was once diagnosed with emphysema, but she stopped smoking and doesn't seem to have that anymore (is that even possible?).  What I know is that she has a breathing machine for sleeping to stop apnea.  She's very overweight.  Her blood pressure and sugars are always all over.  I think she also has something with her lungs, like water in them.  She is 70 years old.  MY QUESTION:  she wants to try playing the trumpet again.  I'm afraid this might not be safe.  She had played, and well, half her life, but would pressure of blowing hurt her, or help develop strength (or both)?

Sincerely,
Julie Siers

[Cleveland Clinic]

I am not a lung expert, but the pressure during trumpet playing is generated with a closed glottis, so it is not transmitted to the lungs. But it is an exacerbated form of a maneuver called valsalva, in which the abdominal pressure is increased, and which decreases the filling pressure to the heart and also the arterial pressure. This can prompt unwanted lightheadedness, dizziness or syncope, so if she experiences any of these symptoms she should stop.