Exercise may trigger Asthma

The most common cause of asthma people know of is allergies. At times, we see stress to cause shortness of breath.  And we encourage people with asthma to be involved in physical activities to overcome this illness. But did you know that some exercises and sports actually trigger asthma? For some, this is their main trigger.

The condition is called exercise-induced asthma (EIA) or exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB). But having such doesn’t mean you can no longer be involved in physical exercises. Some people who are properly treated with this illness can compete in sports and some even succeed.

What triggers EIA is exercising in cold dry air. But wearing a mask or breathing through the nose can help keep warm and moist air be inhaled. Doing warm-up and cold-down exercises will also prevent abrupt changes which trigger asthma symptoms.

When you feel symptoms on asthma after exercising or doing sports, this can be an indication that you have EIA. The best way to treat this is pre-treatment. Even before you start a physical activity, you should take medication so the narrowing of airway can be blocked. You may opt for short-acting inhaled beta-agonists or rescue drugs which can be effectively used to prevent symptoms. Eighty percent of asthma patients have eliminated their symptoms on EIA.

Long-acting inhaled beta-agonists can also be used for EIA treatment. The treatment can last up to 12 hours. This can be wonderful for students with PE classes. They can take the treatment before going to school and still be protected during PE time.