Asthma

We all know that exercise is crucial to good health. Our doctors tell us so, we read articles in magazines and online, and new studies about the benefits of exercise are all over the news. For most of us, getting enough exercise is a matter of getting motivated and making the time for it. But for asthma sufferers, exercise can be a very scary concept.

Asthma attacks are no laughing matter. They cause great difficulty in breathing, and if they’re untreated or treatment is not effective, a trip to the emergency room is necessary. Asthma is the cause of a huge number of missed days at work and school each year. So many asthma sufferers avoid exercise altogether for fear that it will trigger an attack.

Exercise-induced asthma is usually caused by breathing through the mouth during exercise. When we breathe through our noses, the air is warmed and moistened before it reaches the lungs. But when we breathe through our mouths, as we tend to do during exercise, the air that goes into the lungs is much colder and drier. This causes sensitive muscles in the airway to contract, constricting the airway. This can cause an asthma attack in chronic asthma sufferers, as well as some people who do not otherwise experience asthma symptoms.

There are also other factors that may cause exercise-induced asthma. Two of the things that often cause regular asthma symptoms, pollen and pollution in the air, can also contribute to exercise-induced asthma. And in some particularly sensitive people, just the increase in the amount of air inhaled and exhaled can trigger an attack.

Preventing Exercise-Induced Asthma

Exercise-induced asthma is no reason not to get the exercise your body needs. There are things you can do to prevent it, such as:

* Avoid exercising in cold weather. Work out indoors instead. If you must exercise outside when it’s cold out, wear a scarf or bandanna over your mouth and nose to help warm the air you breathe.

* Take the time to do a 15-minute warm-up and a 15-minute cool-down each time you exercise. This will help the lungs adjust to the fluctuations in breathing.

* Avoid things that have triggered attacks in the past when exercising. If the pollen count is high or air quality is low, postpone your workout or keep it indoors.

* Talk to your doctor about medication for exercise-induced asthma. He may suggest using your regular inhaler 15 to 20 minutes before exercising. If you’re particularly active, he might prescribe a long-acting asthma medication that will help prevent exercise-induced asthma for 12 hours.

A diagnosis of asthma does not mean you can never exercise safely. It just means that you’ll need to take a few extra precautions. There’s no reason that asthma should stand in the way of physical fitness.

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Asthma is an unpleasant condition, and unfortunately a very common one. Millions of people worldwide have been diagnosed with asthma, and many of them are children. In the United States, about 1/4 of all emergency room visits are asthma-related. So chances are, most of us know someone with asthma even if we do not have it ourselves.

If you, a family member or a friend has asthma, it’s important to know the signs of an asthma attack. Knowing what to look for can facilitate early treatment, reducing the chance of a serious attack. Symptoms of an asthma attack include:

* Wheezing when breathing in, out, or both
* Frequent coughing
* Faster breathing
* Tightness in the chest and/or neck
* A feeling of panic
* A pale, sweaty face

When these symptoms appear, the asthma sufferer should use his rescue inhaler as soon as possible. Waiting it out just isn’t a good idea. Sometimes wheezing stops and it appears that the asthma attack is subsiding, but in reality the chest muscles have tightened up so much that there is not enough air movement to cause wheezing. If the attack progresses to this point, prompt medical care is imperative.

Sometimes an asthma attack may progress, even with use of a rescue inhaler. In addition to the so-called “silent chest” described above, here are some other signs that medical treatment should be sought:

* A blue or gray tinge to the lips and skin underneath the fingernails
* Serious difficulty speaking
* Straining the chest muscles to breathe

Early Warning Signs

It’s a common misconception that an asthma attack always comes on suddenly with no warning. Most of the time, however, there is some indication that an attack is coming on in the hours before it becomes serious enough to warrant use of an inhaler. Paying attention to these early warning signs can help prevent an attack before it starts. These signs include:

* Coughing at night
* Shortness of breath
* Feelings of tiredness or irritability
* Allergy symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose and congestion
* Trouble sleeping

Another thing that those with asthma often ignore is the presence of environmental factors that bring on symptoms. These include increased pollen or pollution, windy conditions, high temperatures accompanied by high humidity, and low temperatures accompanied by low humidity. Staying indoors in the presence of these conditions can go a long way toward preventing an asthma attack.

Asthma has the potential to seriously decrease one’s quality of life. But by paying attention to early signs of an attack and following their doctors’ orders, asthma sufferers can make sure that attacks are mild and infrequent. When asthma is kept under control, it doesn’t have to have a profound effect on one’s life.

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