athletes and asthma

This research confirms the findings of PACE author Dr Al Sears:

More than a third of college athletes assessed for breathing problems had test results suggesting exercise-induced asthma, even in those athletes who had no previous history of asthma, a new study shows

The findings, published in the September issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, paralleled earlier findings of a high prevalence of exercise-induced asthma among Olympic athletes. The work also underscores the need to develop more routine diagnosis and management tools in athletes to detect the potentially serious condition among athletes.

Researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center screened 107 Ohio State varsity athletes for exercise-induced asthma. Forty-two (39 percent) of the athletes tested positive, and 36 of those 42 athletes had no prior history of asthma.

The results suggest there are a significant number of athletes with unrecognized exercise-induced asthma. There were also many presentations of exercise-induced asthma, many of which were not classic cases, making diagnosis challenging.

Exercise-induced asthma occurs when airflow to the lungs is reduced due to narrowing and closing of the airways in association with exercise. This airway obstruction usually occurs just after exercise.

moral of the story:
stop straining and start the PACE exercise program instead!