Exercise For People Living With Asthma
Asthma symptoms can be provoked or worsened by exercise, which is why many asthma sufferers avoid physical activity or sport, leading to reduced cardiovascular fitness and increased risk of other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Lower fitness also lowers the threshold of asthma exacerbation, meaning that it takes less exercise to aggravate the asthma. This leads to a vicious cycle of asthma flare-ups and deconditioning.
By Lisa Rapaport, Reuters Health
4 Min Read
People with moderate to severe asthma who add aerobic exercise to their treatment regimen may have an easier time controlling common symptoms than people who rely on drugs alone, a small study suggests.
Patients randomly assigned to a three-month treadmill exercise regimen showed decreases in two aspects of the illness that make it difficult to breathe: inflammation and heightened sensitivity in the airway.
While its not surprising that asthma patients may benefit from aerobic exercise, the findings offer new evidence that physical activity can help even in patients who are already controlling symptoms with medication, said lead author Dr. Celso Carvalho, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine in Brazil.
This information strongly suggests that aerobic exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect in asthma, Carvalho said by email. The findings point to a potential benefit of exercise for enhancing the effectiveness of treatment with drugs, he said.
Doing The Best Types Of Exercise For Asthma
Tips To Help Prevent Exercise
To prevent exercise-induced asthma, suggestions include:
- Make sure that your asthma is being well managed, as this will make exercise-induced asthma less likely to occur.
- Always carry your reliever medication and spacer with you.
- If written on your Asthma Action Plan, take your reliever medication up to 15 minutes before warming up.
- Warm up before exercise as usual.
- During exercise, watch for asthma symptoms and stop and take your reliever medication if symptoms appear. Only return to exercise if your asthma symptoms have been relieved. If asthma symptoms appear for a second time during exercise, take your reliever medication again until symptoms have been relieved. It is not recommended that you return to the activity.
- After exercise, cool down as usual. Asthma symptoms can occur up to half an hour after exercise. Make sure you take your reliever medication if you have symptoms after exercise.
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Breathe Through Your Nose
- It is important to breathe through your nose as this warms, filters and moistens the air that enters your lungs.
- It also helps to regulate your breathing.
- Nose breathing may take practice, especially if you arent used to it.
- If your nose is blocked by hay fever, dust mite allergy or sinusitis, ask your doctor about nasal treatments.
- Controlling any allergies and clearing your nose can make a big difference to your daily life and to your asthma.
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How To Manage Exercise With Asthma
Asthma symptoms are commonly triggered by exercising. Either during workout, several persons with asthma might feel respiratory distress, sneezing, coughing, or tightness of the chest.
Despite adequate advice and medication, nevertheless, majority persons with asthma may effectively engage in particular preferred exercise. Everyone people, as well as those with asthma, have indeed been known to improve from exercising.
Asthma is a long-term disease that impacts the lungs passageways. It causes symptoms such as coughing and wheezing by inflaming and enlarged airways. It may be hard to breathe as a result of something like this.
Aerobic exercise could sometimes exacerbate or induce airway inflammation. Its known as exercise-induced asthma or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction whenever this occurs .
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Although if people dont really have asthma, anyone could get EIB.
People might well be reluctant to exercise if people have EIB. However, just even though people have it really doesnt indicate that shouldnt participate in physical. Individuals with EIB can exercise out in a relaxed and comfortable manner.
Physical exercise, in instance, could help to reduce asthma symptoms by boosting respiratory health. The secret is to work out in the correct way and in the appropriate quantity. Consulting with a doctor can help people figure out what it all means for particular.
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The Need For An Asthma Action Plan
Every child with asthma should have a written asthma action plan. This contains information on how to recognise asthma symptoms and what to do if they appear.
Your doctor will develop the asthma plan with you. Tell them if your child will be playing sport so they can include relevant information in the asthma action plan.
Tell your childs coach or trainer about the child’s asthma and give them a copy of the asthma action plan so they know what to do if your child develops symptoms.
Tips To Exercise Safely With Asthma
There are many steps you can take to avoid asthma symptoms during and after exercise:
Create an asthma action plan with your doctor. If your asthma is under good control when youre not exercising, you should be able to exercise without much difficulty, Dr. Roe says. Talk with your doctor about maintenance therapy that will keep asthma symptoms in check during exercise.
Talk to your doctor about a safe exercise routine. Your doctor may suggest that you take a simple stress test to see how you respond to exercise. He or she may also tell you to use a short-acting beta-agonist medication from an inhaler 15 to 20 minutes before your workout, Roe says.
Know your peak flows. At first it can be hard to distinguish between normal breathlessness from exercise and breathlessness thats related to asthma. To know for sure, check your peak flow, Roe suggests.
Using a peak flow meter will help give you an idea of a good reading when your asthma is under good control. When your reading is less than two-thirds the usual level, you may need medication. You should have a plan in place with your doctor about what to do if that happens, the Global Initiative for Asthma states.
With the right preparation, theres no need to shy away from working out with asthma. By making a plan with your doctor and using these safety tips, exercising without triggering an asthma attack is possible.
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Asthma Attack Triggers When Running
That said, concerns about developing asthma symptoms while running are real and must be considered.
With exercise-induced asthma, its obviously the activity itself that triggers bronchoconstriction. In other cases, environmental factors are at play:
- Running in cold weathercan induce edema in the lungs, as well as bronchoconstriction and sudden bronchospasm.
- Pollution and allergens like pollen in the air can provoke inflammation, which partially blocks airway openings in the lungs.
These physiological responses make it hard for enough air to get into your airways when you breathe. As a result, you can feel chest tightness, wheezing, and shortness of breath while running, and your oxygen level may become dangerously low.As such, its a good idea to participate in a pulmonary rehabilitation program that includes guidance, supervision, and education about your asthma before you begin running on your own.
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How Can I Deal With Exercise
When it comes to EIA, staying one step ahead of your symptoms is a good strategy. Ask your doctor what you should do before exercising or playing sports.
Here are some of the things doctors suggest for people who have EIA:
- Warm up carefully before any exercise to prevent chest tightening.
- If you do pretreatment, take your medicine as close to the start of exercise as possible.
- Breathe through your nose during exercise.
- Take brief rests during exercise and use quick-relief medicine as prescribed if symptoms start.
- Cool down after exercise.
- Avoid exercising outside during really cold weather. But if you have to, wear a scarf around your nose and mouth or a ski mask.
- If pollen or pollution trigger your asthma, exercise indoors on days when the air quality is bad or the pollen count is high.
- Don’t exercise when you have a cold or the flu.
- Don’t exercise if you’re having asthma symptoms.
Taking medicine exactly as your doctor prescribes is the most important tip of all. Skipping long-term control medicine, if it’s prescribed for you, can make symptoms worse. Forgetting to take medicine before exercise can lead to severe flare-ups and even ER visits.
Finally, always keep your inhaler with you when exercising. You may feel shy about your asthma, but don’t hide it from coaches or teammates they can help you. Coaches especially should know about your asthma so they will understand if you need to take a break and use your medicine.
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Aerobic Exercise Helpful For Asthma
By Lisa Rapaport, Reuters Health
4 Min Read
– People with moderate to severe asthma who add aerobic exercise to their treatment regimen may have an easier time controlling common symptoms than people who rely on drugs alone, a small study suggests.
Patients randomly assigned to a three-month treadmill exercise regimen showed decreases in two aspects of the illness that make it difficult to breathe: inflammation and heightened sensitivity in the airway.
While its not surprising that asthma patients may benefit from aerobic exercise, the findings offer new evidence that physical activity can help even in patients who are already controlling symptoms with medication, said lead author Dr. Celso Carvalho, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine in Brazil.
This information strongly suggests that aerobic exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect in asthma, Carvalho said by email. The findings point to a potential benefit of exercise for enhancing the effectiveness of treatment with drugs, he said.
Globally, an estimated 235 million people suffer from asthma, according to the World Health Organization.
The incurable chronic disease leads to sudden attacks of breathlessness and wheezing. During attacks, the lining of the bronchial tubes swells, narrowing the airways and restricting the flow of air in and out of the lungs.
Exercise also appeared to curb levels of some proteins, known as cytokines, linked to inflammation.
Type Of Exercise How Long It Lasts How Hard Youre Working
You may find some kinds exercise are harder on your breathing than others. If your asthma is well controlled, you should be able to do every kind of exercise and sport. The one exception is Scuba diving, which is not recommended for people with asthma because it can be dangerous for them.If you find a certain exercise harder to do, you can:Make sure you to a proper warm-up and cool-down.Take it at a slower pace- if other run eight laps during a practice, you can try running five laps.
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How Asthma Affects The Airways
When a person with asthma comes into contact with anything that irritates the airways, it makes the body to react in the following ways:
- The muscles on the walls of the airways tighten narrowing the airways
- The lining of the airways begin to swell
- Phlegm or sticky mucus builds up narrowing the airways further
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These reactions makes it difficult to breathe leading to asthma symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and chest tightness.
During an asthma attack, the airways become narrower and the bronchial tubes swell restricting the flow of air.
Is Running Good For Asthma: 7 Safety Tips For Runners
It is very inconvenient and frustrating for athletes when they find that they are suffering from breathing problems which may or may not be asthma.
In many cases, athletes or runners think that they have asthma, but in many cases, it is not the actual problem.
So, before you take any further step in treating your asthma symptoms after running it is important for you to get knowledgeable about your problem, get diagnosed properly and find out whether you have asthma or not.
Here in this article, we will be talking about how running can affect your asthma problems and what runners can do to overcome it if they are suffering from asthma .
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Warm Mist Vs Cool Mist Humidifiers
There are two primary categories of humidifiers. Warm mist humidifiers release warm mist or steam vapors into the air that you can see and feel. Often quieter than other types of humidifiers, these may be best at soothing sinuses and thinning out mucus secretions. Warm mist humidifiers are typically better for smaller areas. Since they release hot mist, however, it would be safer to keep these humidifiers away from children.
Cool mist humidifiers are quieter and easier to clean typically, but the easier cleaning also means they must be cleaned more frequently, and as mentioned above, cleaning the humidifier is crucial. Cold mist humidifiers work better in larger environments and this cooler mist is often considered more comfortable to breathe.
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Exercise Outside With Asthma
Here are some other ways to play it smart and prevent exercise-inducedasthma:
Check weather alerts. For some patients, extreme temperatures hot or cold make it hard to breathe, Dr. Pennington explains. And sometimes the quick change in temperature when you leave air conditioning to go out in the heat makes breathing more difficult.
Hot, humid weather can also increase the amount of pollution in the air, which can exacerbate asthma symptoms. So watch the forecast and air quality index when planning outdoor exercise.
Peruse pollen counts.Thereis such a thing as allergy-induced asthma, too. So stay inside if you haveseasonal allergies and the pollen count is high.
Dont forget your gear. Your rescue inhaler isuseless sitting at home while youre out running a five-mile race, Dr.Pennington says. Make sure you have it so you can use it if needed.
She advisesusing your rescue inhaler 15 minutes before starting an activity. If you feelshort of breath while exercising, take a few puffs to get relief within 10 to15 minutes.
And if youve been prescribed a controller inhaler, make sure youre using it as directed, she stresses. It will help decrease the inflammation in your lungs that causes symptoms.
Take it slow. Dont start running or ridingyour bike at full blast. Warmupfirst. Take the time to adjust your body to hot temperatures, especially if youare coming from an air-conditioned environment.
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Humidifiers And Asthma Do They Help Or Hurt
Humidifiers work by releasing steam or water vapor into the air in order to increase humidity. Breathing air with a higher humidity is one way to relieve the discomforting symptoms of allergies, which often include nasal congestion, irritation, and inflammation of the delicate, moist tissues of the nasal mucosa.
The moist air then allows your moistened nasal tissues to blow out irritants and allergens from your nasal cavity, reducing your allergy symptoms and lessening the negative airway responses. Since allergies are a leading trigger of asthma, a humidifier certainly seems like it would help. Looking good so far.
But balance is key. Two common allergens, dust mites, and mold, both thrive in higher humidity. So while the higher humidity is better for nasal tissue and limits asthma triggers, it also encourages other common inflammatory substances. Indoor air thats neither too damp nor too dry is best.
So humidifiers definitely have the potential to help, but the other primary concern when using a humidifier to ease asthma flare-ups and triggers is ensuring the humidifier is releasing clean water vapor. If upkeep is not maintained, a dirty humidifier could actually exacerbate symptoms. Well discuss this in more detail later on. Now, lets look at the types of water vapors that could help reduce the negative effects of asthma.
Best And Worst Exercises For Asthma
Swimming is one of the best exercises for asthma because it builds up the muscles you use for breathing. It also exposes the lungs to lots of warm, moist air, which is less likely to trigger asthma symptoms. A comprehensive medical review of eight studies of children and adolescents from 2013 showed that swimming increases lung function and cardiopulmonary fitness, without any serious side effects in patients with stable asthma.
Yoga is another good exercise for asthma. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that yoga training over 10 weeks significantly improved quality of life scores for women with mild to moderate asthma.
Other potential physical activities for people with asthma include
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