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Asthma does not impede sporting success in elite athletes

Asthma-related breathing issues were not a hindrance to sporting success, if they were well managed and controlled, in British swimmers and boxers who competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, according to study findings published in Respirology.

“Elite swimming and boxing require athletes to achieve relatively high minute ventilation. The combination of a sustained high ventilation and provocative training environment may impact the susceptibility of athletes to exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB),” Irisz Karolina Levai, MD, from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Kent in England, and colleagues wrote.

Olympic members of the British boxing (n = 38) and swimming (n = 44) teams completed a questionnaire and underwent several breathing assessments. The researchers analyzed the data to determine the prevalence of EIB for both sports.

Results indicated that asthma-related breathing problems were 9 times more likely to occur in British swimmers compared to boxers. Furthermore, swimmers had a greater prevalence of EIB than boxers (68% vs. 8%; P < 0.001). Levai and colleagues attribute these findings to more demanding environmental exposures including the combination of pool chemicals and high respiration rate requirements while swimming.

The researchers suggest that swimming performance may be improved by optimizing airway health. In addition, athletes with asthma should not be discouraged from swimming as it may enhance asthma control, as well as cardiovascular fitness.

“Athletes who train and compete in provocative environments at sustained high ventilation may have an increased susceptibility to EIB. It is not entirely clear whether increased susceptibility to EIB affects elite sporting performance and long-term airway health in elite athletes,” Levai and colleagues concluded. – by Alaina Tedesco

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