http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/mediaroom/press/article.cfm?ID=3406
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I have lots of questions with this, not much detail in the study.
I don’t know whether athletes actually suffer from regular asthma any more often than the general population.
I suspect that they report it more often since they are more keenly aware of their breathing. This also applies to exercise induced asthma that I have been diagnosed with.
My doctor said to use Ventolin if/when it appears during exercise. He wrongly assumed I worked out 3-4 times a week like a normal gym junkie! When he found out that I actually exercise 3 times a DAY, and was using ventolin 1-2 times a day he switched me to Fixotide every morning. Now I only use my ventolin about every 2 weeks or even less. I would use it more, but I hardly get wheezing except when I really push the pace, and my cardiologist has told me not to push the pace over 170bpm (but what does he know? LOL) I’ll never get to enter my initials into my HRM for getting a new high score, if I stay below 170BPM.
Since the general public don’t really exercise very much, they may just misdiagnose themselves as just being fat and out of shape, rather than querying Asthma. Athletes will assume they are super fit, and there must be something wrong, and seek assistance about asthma among other things.
Just my opinion
I agree with TriDork’s speculation that athletes just report their asthma more. An athlete with the same breathing conditions as a non-athlete is more likely to notice any problems and need assistance. I’m not an expert an asthma, but I think it can vary greatly in degree and many people may not notice it if they aren’t an athlete.
i agree with this as well. I have EIA and if not for running, I would never know I had it. There is a certain point that I can push up to before it hits, and once it hits I just feel like I’m sucking wind big time. I’ve only had one or two actual attacks with the full on wheezing and tight chest that were a dead give away as to the problem.
If not for working out like I do, I would have never guessed I had anything wrong. This is with a mother who is on both advair and singulair to control hers.
I went out for a run at lunchtime a couple of days ago. I didn’t have any of my slightly slower colleagues with me so I decided to “give it a nudge” to see where my fitness was at.
I was going quite well for about 20 minutes then got increasingly bad asthma. By the time I finished my run, at full flight, running along the local waterfront boardwalk, past all the people eating their lunch, I was getting lots of stares. I don’t think it was my impressive physique, or even my rocket like speed. Based on the loud wheezing I could hear myself, and the bugeyed look I could tell I had, I think the asthma may have been getting THEIR attention too. Mind you, it could have been the localized global warming I was generating that made them notice. Must have warmed up several degrees as I passed. Man that was loud wheezing that day. Based on past experience, I think my HR was about 190-200BPM. Did I mention I gave it a nudge? 