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Exercise Induced Asthma

A few people seem to get asthma attacks only when they run or do some form of exercise.

In the past, doctors thought this was a different form of asthma.  However, it is now known that it is very common for people with asthma to have asthma attacks during exercise.

This "exercise induced asthma" is especially a problem for young people.  In fact doctors used to puzzle over why children got exercise-induced asthma and why adults did not.  Eventually research discovered the obvious reason : most adults do not  exercise as much as children.

Doctors now believe that people who get asthma attacks only when they exercise have asthma which is too mild to show up most of the time, needing the extra provocation from faster breathing to bring it out.

If the air you breathe during exercise is cold and dry, then the asthma will be worse.  If it is warm and moist, the asthma will be less bad.  This explains why swimming usually causes less asthma than outdoor running.

Increased breathing during exercise causes cooling and drying of the lining of the air passages and this is usually necessary for someone to get exercise-induced asthma.  This explains why warm moist air protects against exercise-induced asthma.  At this stage it is not understood why the drying and cooling of the airway linings causes the asthma episode.

Exercise is just one of many things which show that the air passages are being irritated or that you are an asthma sufferer.

Exercise induced asthma can be useful for diagnosing asthma in a child.  Exercising a child for about 6 minutes is a convenient and safe way of provoking a mild asthma attack, and this has led to many children getting early and appropriate advice and treatment.

Exercise induced asthma has also been useful in asthma research.  It can be used for testing the effectiveness of new medicines which may help treat asthma in the future.

You will already have picked up some useful clues. Swimming rather than running, warmer and moister air, warm-up by short periods of exercise, and getting into training can all help.

Many cross-country skiers wear breathing masks which store some of the heat and moisture from the air they breathe out and return it to the air they breathe in.  This is helpful in avoiding exercise-induced asthma.

In addition, taking control of your asthma, by using a 'preventer' treatment or by avoiding causes of asthma such as house dust mites and pets, can have a tremendously positive effect on exercise-induced asthma.