Some athletes who have asthma are not receiving the right treatment or getting the right advice, experts warned today.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, freelance journalist Sophie Arie, from London, UK, reports that athletes with asthma could be putting their long term health at risk.
She points out that Olympic competitors have been told that they no longer need authorisation for using inhalers. Interestingly, the rate of asthma is much higher among athletes than the general public – 21 per cent of Team GB in 2004 compared with eight per cent of the population.
This may be because asthma symptoms are often provoked by intense exertion over long periods, cold air and the chemicals in swimming pools, plus the sheer hours of extreme exercise.
Athletes with asthma know that a long warm up is essential and have developed breathing techniques and tricks with their inhalers that help them avoid attacks, says Ms Arie.
But she adds: "Questions still remain over whether athletes might be harming themselves by overusing asthma drugs or simply misusing drugs because of misdiagnosis of the condition."
Many athletes might have exercise induced asthma, which can be treated with different drugs to full blown asthma. Some believe this fully explains the raised rate of asthma in athletes. Using the wrong drugs can have long term implication, such as worsening the condition in the long term.
So-called "long action inhalers" often control the symptoms best. These are used by the women’s world marathon record holder, Paula Radcliffe, for her asthma.
Ms Arie concludes: "Perhaps the simplest but most important lesson to emerge is that scientists now agree that exercise in most people with asthma enhances their lung function and improves their quality of life."
Asthma in elite athletes. Arie, S. The British Medical Journal April 25 2012 doi=10.1136/bmj.e2556
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