(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Athletes expect to be a little out of breath at the
end of a strenuous workout. But for many, it's more than just a little
breathlessness. It's exercise-induced asthma (EIB).
That's the key finding of Ohio State University investigators in Columbus who
ran about 100 varsity athletes from the school through a standard pulmonary
function exam known as eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) testing. Endorsed as
the test of choice for EIB by the International Olympic Committee, the exam
measures lung function after a person hyperventilates, thus allowing doctors to
see what happens to the lungs in a situation that mimics changes induced by
exercise.
Results revealed more than one-in-three of the athletes had classic signs of EIB
-- and the vast majority (36 out of 42) had never before been told they had
asthma.
"We targeted varsity athletes in this study because many of the reported severe
episodes of asthma provoked by exercise have occurred among competitive athletes
under the age of 21," study author Jonathan Parsons was quoted as saying. "Now
that we've demonstrated how common this problem can be, more research is needed
to determine the best way to monitor and manage athletes at the highest risk of
developing symptoms while participating in their sports."
Exercise-induced asthma is a common condition in people known to have asthma,
affecting between 80 percent and 90 percent of all asthmatics. But about
one-in-10 people with no signs of chronic asthma are also affected, experiencing
breathing difficulties only with exercise.
Study authors conclude their study points to the need for more doctors to use
the EVH test to identify athletes with EIB. They write, "These data have
particular clinical relevance as physicians commonly diagnose and treat
suspected EIB empirically based on symptoms alone without objective testing and
suggest that objective testing should be performed when EIB is suspected,
especially in athletes."
SOURCE: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, published online Sept. 5,
2007
