by Chris Pearce

Created on: March 12, 2008

Asthma is where the breathing passages become inflamed, causing shortness of breath. A sufferer can experience sudden attacks, although the condition often comes and goes. Sometimes the symptoms can be severe and other times they can be quite mild. On occasions, there are no symptoms. An asthma attack is a type of allergic reaction. Asthma can be triggered by various factors, which differ from person to person. These can include airborne contaminants such as dust, smoke, or traffic fumes, airborne allergens such as molds or pollen, temperature or humidity extremes, respiratory infection, emotional stress, and exercise.

Exercise-induced asthma is where a person suffers undue shortness of breath from physical exercise. At rest, most of us breathe through the nose and the air becomes warm and humid before it reaches the lungs. During vigorous exercise or sport, there is often a need for more air than can normally be inhaled via the nose. The shortfall is made up by breathing through the mouth. This colder, drier air increases blood flow to the linings of the airways, which causes them to swell and produce mucus, making it hard to breathe. For some people, this is their only type of asthma. People who suffer from exercise-induced asthma tend to be more sensitive to air temperature and humidity changes.

The condition is more common in sports requiring continuous effort such as long-distance running and soccer. Swimming tends to be an exception due to higher humidity near water. Less intense and stop-start sports aren't as likely to cause attacks. Overall, symptoms can be worse with a cold, being unfit, pollution, dry air, and cold weather. Winter athletes are more prone to exercise-induced asthma. A person is at greater risk of suffering the condition if they live in a large city, smoke or are exposed to smoke, work with chemicals, are obese, had a low birth weight, or if the condition runs in the family. Interestingly, elite athletes are more likely to have the condition. Between one-third and two-thirds of Olympic participants have asthma. Experts think the high rate may be due to other medications taken by these people, but the rate does show that asthma medication is effective.

Symptoms of exercise-induced asthma include shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, higher respiratory rate, chest pain or tightness, long recovery, and fatigue. Symptoms can start after a short period of activity or at the end of exercise. In children, symptoms may be harder to detect.

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