Athletes often unaware of asthma- Breathless competitors may have a problem:
OSU researchers found that 42 of 107 varsity athletes had exercise-induced asthma
9/5/2007
The Columbus Dispatch
 
People who run 100 miles a week or spend hours a day swimming laps expect to be winded.

Every once and again, an athlete just needs to stop for a breather.

But sometimes moments of breathlessness signal a more significant problem.

When researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center tested 107 varsity athletes from 22 teams, they found that more than a third suffer from exercise-induced asthma.

The findings add to a body of evidence on Olympic competitors and other elite athletes that points to a need for more aggressive screening and treatment, said Dr. Jonathan Parsons, a pulmonologist and associate director of the medical center's asthma center.

Parsons was the lead author of the study, which appears in today's issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

He and a team of researchers tested the athletes' lung function twice: at a resting state and then after they had been breathing rapidly and heavily into a mouthpiece for six minutes.

Before testing, 11 of the 107 said they had been told at some point in their lives that they had asthma.

After they were tested, 42 were found to have exercise-induced asthma, which can prompt breathing problems within five to 20 minutes of starting exercise. Symptoms include wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and chest pain.

In most cases, the disease is easily tackled with an inhaler used before competition or practice to open the airways. Vigorous warm-ups and masks that heat cold air before it hits the lungs also can help.

Coaches, trainers and parents have a difficult time discerning the normal effects of rigorous exercise from asthma, Parsons said.

"They may interpret it as poor performance," he said. "It really takes a keen eye and a high index of suspicion."

Parsons said many of the athletes in the study were surprised by how much better they felt using an inhaler.

An official diagnosis is important, he said, because some symptoms might indicate acid reflux or other problems, such as trouble with the heart or vocal cords.

Senior OSU lacrosse player Charlie Billingsley said he had no idea he had asthma when he signed up two years ago for the study, which paid $50.

He had played sports since he was a little boy and just figured when he was out of breath that he was working hard.

Now, he uses the inhaler, especially before any intense cardio work.

"I think it's improved my performance," said Billingsley, who is a business major from Birmingham, Mich.

There was some concern the study results might be skewed because participants weren't randomly selected, which is the scientific ideal, Parsons said.

But most of the athletes thought they had no problems when they agreed to be tested, and the results hold up to similar studies in older athletes, he said.

Researchers now plan to study the entire roster of five or six varsity teams and try to better understand which sports have the highest rates of exercise-induced asthma.

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This item is a result of a news release distributed by OSU Medical Center media relations, available on the Web at:  http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/mediaroom/press/article.cfm?ID=3406