Living with Exercise-Induced Asthma
By Sally Wenzel, MD
Everybody expects to get a little winded when they exercise—no matter what shape they’re in. But for some people, exercise means shortness of breath, a hacking cough, wheezing and chest tightness. Many of these athletes, from "weekend warriors" to professionals, have something called exercise-induced asthma or EIA.
Often people with EIA don’t know they have it and blame their shortness of breath on being out of shape. Usually, this isn’t true. Asthma affects 5-10 percent of the population of the United States, and almost all people with asthma have EIA.
Physicians believe EIA is triggered by breathing cold, dry air. At this time of year, that’s not a problem; but in the winter EIA becomes more prevalent. That’s why doctors often recommend staying away from sports like cross-country skiing. Cross-country skiing combines intense aerobic activity and cold, dry air, which is almost a sure way to bring on an EIA attack in a susceptible person. But people who love skiing may want to wear a scarf or mask over the mouth to warm the air before breathing it.
The best sports for people with EIA take place in a humid environment. People who swim or participate in other water sports usually don’t have as severe as those who, for example, ice skate.
Warming up before strenuous exercise is always important. This is especially true for people with EIA, because warming up can actually make an asthma attack less severe.
But when warming up, really do it. Stretch out and break a sweat 30 minutes to an hour before taking to the basketball court or jogging around the park.
EIA’s symptoms, the coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath, usually start about 10-15 minutes after exercising. Of course, there are people with EIA who get these symptoms during particularly intense exercise. There’s a lot of debate about why EIA happens after, instead of during exercise, but no one really knows the answer. And EIA may not occur with every type of exercise or every time a person exercises.
In addition to warming up, another way to pre-treat EIA is by taking medication about 15 minutes before exercising. This needs to be prescribed by a physician.
As with any illness, it is vital to be diagnosed by a physician. Some EIA symptoms--shortness of breath and tightness in the chest--are similar to heart problems. So it’s important to see a physician if you suffer from any EIA symptoms.
In general, stopping exercise is the last thing a person with EIA should do. In addition to getting out of shape, lack of exercise makes EIA even worse when you do decide to exercise again. If you can get to good level of fitness, and pre-treat EIA by warming up and using medication, it will actually lessen the symptoms.
Dr. Wenzel is a senior staff physician at National Jewish Medical and Research Center.
For more information on exercise-induced asthma, call National Jewish’s Lung Line, (800) 222-LUNG.
"Breathe Easy" is a quarterly column that originally appeared in the Intermountain Jewish News. Each column features respiratory and immune system health tips provided by experts from the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.
