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Allergy & Asthma Advocate: Summer 2005
Asthma is a very common disease, affecting as high as 6% of the general population and 10% of children. Asthma is triggered or worsened by a number of factors, but exercise is one of the most common, with an estimated 80% of asthmatics having increased symptoms with exercise. When studies have been done to evaluate the prevalence of exercise-induced asthma (EIA) in athletes in general, estimates have been as high as 15%. When studies have been done in elite athletes such as Olympians, up to 40% have symptoms of EIA. Symptoms of EIA include cough, wheeze, shortness of breath and chest tightness. Frequently athletes with EIA may think they are just “out of shape”. There are people who have asthma only with exercise, but the great majority have underlying asthma which worsens with exercise. Anyone who has symptoms of EIA should have an evaluation including pulmonary function testing to confirm the diagnosis, establish severity of disease, and rule out the need to look for other causes of symptoms. Allergy skin tests may also be done. The first treatment for EIA is to be sure that asthma in general is well-controlled. The primary medications used as-needed for EIA are bronchodilators such as albuterol (Proventil) of pirbuterol (Maxair). These should be used at least 15-30 minutes pre-exercise and last up to four hours. Also cromolyn sodium (Intal) has shown some benefit used pre-exercise.
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© 1996-2008 · All Rights Reserved · American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology |
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Dealing with Exercise-Induced Asthma 
In the absence of asthma the airways open, or bronchodilate, with exercise. With EIA, the airways close, or bronchoconstrict, typically after 5-8 minutes of near-maximum physical activity. Exercise-induced asthma tends to occur in aerobic sports such as track, basketball, tennis and soccer. Symptoms will be less likely to occur in sports such as baseball, football and volleyball. Once running stops, most people with EIA will recover even without treatment after 20-60 minutes.