Structured aerobic exercise improves asthma control, decreases SABA use

MONTREAL — A 12-week structured aerobic exercise program significantly improved asthma control in patients with poor symptom control, according to a randomized study presented at CHEST Annual Meeting 2015.

“Adding regular aerobic exercise to a regular treatment regimen is safe and beneficial for adult patients with asthma and can lead to better control of asthma symptoms,” Simon L. Bacon, PhD, a professor and graduate program director of exercise science at Concordia University in Montreal, told Healio.com/Pulmonology.

Sixty-six adults (mean age 49 years, 71% women) participated in either 12 weeks of usual care (n = 33) or supervised aerobic exercise (n = 33) to analyze the impact of exercise on asthma morbidity.

Participants in the exercise group participated in three sessions per week — 10 minute warm-up, 36 minutes of exercise (cycle, treadmill or elliptical), and a 10 minute cool-down.

Participants in the exercise group had improvements in asthma control (P = .008), short-acting bronchodilator use (P = .003), waist circumference (P = .04) and depressive symptoms (P = .009) compared with the participants who received regular care.

No adverse events occurred in the group that participated in the aerobic exercises, according to Bacon.

Clinicians should approach their patients with asthma and advocate forms of exercise as treatment, Bacon told Healio.com/Pulmonology.

“Clinicians should feel that encouraging patients with asthma to exercise is a good thing so long as they explain how to do it safely,” he said. “They may also consider sending patients with asthma to a standard chronic disease exercise-based intervention [such as] pulmonary or cardiac rehabilitation.” – by Ryan McDonald

Reference:

Bacon SL, et al. Abstract 951. Presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting 2015; Oct. 24-28; Montreal

Disclosure: Bacon reports receiving speaker fees from Novartis and Kataka Medical Communication. All other researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.