If you’re asthmatic … it’s vital to stay active! – Destination Santé
If you’re asthmatic … it’s vital to stay active! [30 April 2007 - 16h11] [mis à jour le 30 August 2007 à 16h09]
Having asthma is certainly not a reason for avoiding exercise. It’s vital once and for all to knock this false but persistent notion well and truly on the head. In fact the complete opposite is right – taking part in sport is strongly recommended for people who suffer from asthma!
What American swimmer mark Spitz and Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain have in common – apart of course from winning a host of medals – is the fact that they are both asthma sufferers! Living proof that this condition does not present an obstacle to taking part in sport, and sport at the very highest level.
Triple Olympic champion Dawn Fraser began swimming at the age of 10, precisely because she was asthmatic and wanted to do something to combat her illness. Mission accomplished. as for mark Spitz and his fantastic record of 7 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics, he set out to disprove that the notion that asthma prevents you taking part in sport. In fact nothing could be further from the truth!
It’s no coincidence that so many swimmers are asthmatic or were once asthmatic: swimming is particularly recommended to people who suffer from asthma. But providing the condition is well controlled no sport is out of bounds except scuba diving. And then only for the obvious reason that in the event of an asthma attack it would be impossible to provide treatment.
Unfortunately, taking part in sport is neither sufficiently common or sufficiently regular among asthma sufferers. much remains to be done: in schools, for example, far too many asthmatic pupils are allowed to miss sports classes. And this is right of all countries, without exception.
So if you’re an asthma sufferer, take up a sport or go back to one you used to do! But first of all, get your asthma under control!
It’s imperative to follow to the letter the primary therapy prescribed by your doctor … and that’s probably the most hard thing to do! nobody wants to be compelled to follow medical treatment when they don’t feel ill. Children least of all – but it’s absolutely fundamental. Achieving excellent control of your condition is in fact paramount. Chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes, which leads to asthma attacks, must be eradicated if sufferers are to delight in sport in comfort.
Comfort… That’s the vital thing! Asthmatics must be particularly careful to adjust the effort they put into their activities according to their level of respiratory comfort. More than 3 in 4 sufferers in fact fall victim to what doctors refer to as asthma of effort which manifests itself through wheezing, coughing and whistling in the chest…
When exercise ceases, or even 5 to 15 minutes later, the bronchial tubes contract. And this is what can cause an attack. it has nothing to do with the breathlessness that occurs during exercise and which decreases spontaneously when exercise stops. This breathlessness isn’t caused by asthma but by lack of training and fitness.
Once identified, asthma of effort can be effectively prevented… by use of prescription medicines and by taking some basic precautions:
- start and end exercise in a gradual way;
- inhale through the nose;
- exhale more slowly than you inhale when exercising, using abdominal breathing;
- remember to drink before and after exercising;
- and finally, be careful about factors that can trigger an attack, such as atmospheric pollution, the presence of pollen, cold, dry weather, etc.
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In fact the only time that asthma sufferers are really advised to avoid exercise is when there are high levels of pollution.
The weapon of choice in the asthmatic’s armoury are corticoids, taken by inhalation. These have led to a considerable drop in mortality. when corticoids have reached their limits, doctors have two options:
- long-acting broncho-dilators, used to dilate the bronchial tubes over the medium to long term. however, these have no anti-inflammatory effect and therefore do not act on the cause of the illness. which is why they must always be used alongside a corticoid treatment;
- or antileukotriene agents. These medicines taken along with corticoids, in tablet form, act in a different way on bronchial inflammation;
- in the event of an asthma attack or temporary difficulty breathing, small-acting broncho-dilators are also used. The best known is Ventolin, but there are many others.
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it is also worth mentioning chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. Too often this is confused with asthma. Yet they are two very different conditions.
Asthma is caused by chronic inflammation and therefore a thickening of the bronchial tubes. The symptoms can vary from one day to the next and are often more acute at night than during the day. A number of factors, such as allergens, cold, dry air and certain viral infections can be implicated in the inflammatory process, which, attack by attack, wears down the respiratory capital of the sufferer.
In fact there is not just one asthma but a number of asthmas. Each asthmatic develops his own clinical picture: coughing, whistling in the chest, a feeling of breathlessness or even suffocation… But it’s not consistent. The disease translates differently from one sufferer to another.
COPD, on the other hand, is characterised by obstruction of the bronchial tubes and the destruction of lung tissue. which is what the experts call emphysema.
In the long term, this condition can be a genuine handicap in everyday life. Sufferers find themselves forced to curb their activities. moreover, this can soon result in cardiac insufficiency, leading to often fatal complications.
But before reaching this point, the illness starts quite insidiously and the symptoms are commonplace. which clarifies why diagnosis is often so late. once the disease has taken root it’s impossible to regain normal respiratory capacity. however, quitting smoking can slow down aggravation of the disease and current treatments can help improve the symptoms.
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If you’re asthmatic … it’s vital to stay active! – Destination Santé