Take a Breather! Find out what Environmental Factors Affect your Exercise-Induced Asthma!

Are you wondering why you experience your exercise-induced asthma faster in some areas compared to others? Maybe it's time to to look at the environments we participate in to get a better idea as to why. 

Introduction

    

    Asthma is common in the United States, affecting more than 28 million individuals so it is easy to understand that exercise-induced asthma is just as common but even more of a hindrance to individuals trying to enjoy participating in a sport. Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA) is the constriction of your airways due to strenuous activity, adjusting and managing your exercise-induced asthma is difficult to begin with but adding the constant adjustments being made for individuals that participate in different sports decreases the amount of enjoyment individuals get from exercise. By identifying risk and environmental factors and educating individuals on such we may be able to combat EIA and decrease the prevalence of asthma overall. 

Why am I Having Trouble Breathing Now?

Research has shown us that exercising in high demand conditions causes the individuals forced exhalation volume levels to decrease showing us how the airways are constricted and less air is leaving the body. Studies have shown that areas that include high humidity, high moisture, low temperature, and dry air severley affect the onset of EIA so sports or exercise that partake in environments such as snow mountains, gymnasiums, or indoor swimming pools then you're more prone to the onset of EIA. In contrary to common belief, consistent distance running doesn't affect if your asthma will affect you, in fact, a study was done with runners in a high humidity environment in which two groups ran different distances and the long distance group experienced their faster than the short distance group. 

Forms of Prevention and Treatment

After identifying these environmental triggers to your asthma and exercise induced asthma, what are methods of prevention and treatment? The most known form of treatment are short-acting beta agonists or in our world we know them formally as inhalers like Pro-Air for example. This is medicine that provides immediate relief of vasoconstriction but another less used method are long-acting beta agonists, Salmeterol, which is taken daily and takes effect in about 30 minutes but provides 12-24hrs of relief. Long-acting beta agonists aren't typically seen with individuals who's asthma isn't that severe but I see potential with how long it provides the individual with relief, for people having to go to sport meet or plan on being in an environment with EIA stimuli then taking these long-acting beta agonists to prepare yourself could be seen as a form of prevention. Another form of prevention includes a proper warm up and cool down, I understand this may seem trivial for some people (including myself) but research shows us how almost prepping your respiratory system for strenuous activity can prove beneficial to combat the irritation of the airways. 

Time to Have Fun!

Now that you're all caught up on what could be causing your asthma to flare up and you know how to treat and prevent it, all thats left is for you to put this research into practice and make sure your asthma isn't stopping you from having the most fun possible! There are resources below to check back to to make sure your'e provided with means and information necessary to combat exercise-induced asthma. 

1. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/7-tips-to-overcome-asthma-when-you-exercise/
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3glfD1VKCZo - "How to reduce exercise-induced bronchoconstriction or asthma"

About the Author

Alberto Burgos is a Movement Science major with a concentration in Sports Medicine at Westfield State with aspirations of going to graduate school to continue his career in Physical Therapy. Alberto played sports all throughout his life and into his college career and struggled with asthma in sport. Alberto can be reached at alberto.burgos858@gmail.com. 

Resources

1.     Päivinen, M., Keskinen, K., Putus, T., Kujala, U. M., Kalliokoski, P., & Tikkanen, H. O. (2021).  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-021-00349-2 

2.     Silva, A., Appell, H. J., & Duarte, J. A. (2011).  Archives of Exercise in Health and Disease, 2(1), 69–75. https://doi.org/10.5628/aehd.v2i1.91 

3.     Eriksson, L. M., Irewall, T., Lindberg, A., & Stenfors, N. (2017). Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 28(1), 180–186. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12879