# Asthma



## Lisa (Mar 3, 2006)

How many of us suffer from asthma and does asthma ever interfere with your training?  If you do have asthma, what do you do to control it?

I have what is referred to as exertional asthma.  I work out and need a ventolin puffer every now and then, especially if I am fighting a cold.

*Asthma Facts and Statistics*



 Asthma is a chronic lung condition that can develop at any age.
 It is most common in childhood and occurs in approximately 7-10% of the  			pediatric population.
 Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease of children; it  			accounts for 1/4 of school absenteeism.
 It affects twice as many boys as girls in childhood; more girls  			than boys develop  			asthma as teenagers, and in adulthood, the ratio becomes 1:1 males to  			females.
 Asthma affects children in varying degrees, from very mild (only  			during vigorous exercise) to very severe.  Children with severe asthma may  			have symptoms every day that may cause some lifestyle restriction; in 			these  			children symptoms occur more easily and more frequently.
There is a general trend of increased deaths and hospitalizations from  			asthma recorded in all the industrialized countries of the world, Canada  			included.
 In Canada, approximately 20 children and 500 adults die each year from  			asthma.  However, with adequate treatment most deaths from asthma can be  			prevented.


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## terryl965 (Mar 3, 2006)

Yea I have asthma and I use albrutrol inhaler and mist also advair and some new one the doctor gave me. I just work out and take those stupid inhalers and it seem to keep me going.
Terry


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## Gemini (Mar 3, 2006)

My 12 year old has exertional asthma, but it usually only effects him in the heat. Example. he's more prone to an attack sparring or playing outside in the summer than he is playing hockey. Is that normal?


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## Ceicei (Mar 3, 2006)

Well, when I grew up in New Mexico playing in sports, I had no problems with breathing until I got to high school and participated on teams (competitive sports for my school).  By then, playing an intense game of volleyball/basketball or doing interval runs for track/cross country would make me wheeze and barely able to breathe.  It didn't make sense because I was physically very fit.  I did not recognize it as asthma back then.  Neither did my coaches.  

Later, I moved to Texas.  It got really bad living there.  I was then diagnosed with asthma by the doctors and put on seven different medications at the same time (two were inhalers).  The asthma was aggravated by living close to the oil refineries and plastic manufacturing plants. There were certain chemicals in the air that stripped the lining inside my lungs--probably a form of an allergy reaction to something.  

Since moving from Texas to Utah, the drier climate helped somewhat.  My doctors had to wean me off the medicines until I just had only the inhalers.  It took roughly eight years to recover from the lung damage.  Eventually, it came to the point I needed them just in the wintertime (especially since I am prone to chronic asthmatic bronchitis).  

When I returned back to Kenpo, it was pretty hard to breathe at first.  Eventually, it came to the point after the first year back again in training, I did not need the inhalers as much any more.   I haven't caught bronchitis nor needed inhalers (knock on wood) during the second and third year of training.  The doctor did caution that I should not consider myself cured.  It will only take a certain chemical or a "burned to the ground" workout to bring it on.  This kind of worries me.  The black belt test (next year for me) will be very, very intense and I certainly do not want to get an attack while testing.

There are two upper level females besides me (one green belt and one brown belt) in my kenpo studio.  They both have asthma and usually have to use their inhalers during sparring or after a tough series of long forms.  I don't know about the males, but I am sure a few might be.  They just aren't as open about whether they have asthma.

Lisa, I hope this answers your questions.  It's a good poll.  I've wondered on this topic before how many martial artists out there have asthma.  I'm glad you posted this.  

- Ceicei


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## Lisa (Mar 4, 2006)

Gemini said:
			
		

> My 12 year old has exertional asthma, but it usually only effects him in the heat. Example. he's more prone to an attack sparring or playing outside in the summer than he is playing hockey. Is that normal?



Gemini,

Does smog play a factor in the summer time where you are?

EDIT:  What about certain pollens that could give him a reaction?


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## Shirt Ripper (Mar 4, 2006)

Well I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma...don't use meds because I'm not a big fan of them...esp. steroids.

Doesn't really interfere anymore...you get good at it.


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## Gemini (Mar 4, 2006)

Lisa said:
			
		

> Gemini,
> 
> Does smog play a factor in the summer time where you are?


 No, not really. It stays pretty clean here, but may have something to do with the ozone.



			
				Lisa said:
			
		

> EDIT: What about certain pollens that could give him a reaction?


 He does have some alergies, but they don't seem to add into the equasion. At least no common denominator we can see.


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## Lisa (Mar 4, 2006)

So how about plastic manufacturing or other industrial plants in the neighbourhood?  Has he been allergy tested to see if there is a correlation? (sp?)


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## Carol (Mar 4, 2006)

Heat also affects me more than cold.  For me, it has always been that way, since I was first diagnosed with asthma 20+ years ago.  

I thought I had my asthma under control, but my training is getting a bit more vigorous, and its starting to give me problems again.  Our school is overcrowded (we are moving to a new building soon).  We are not on the ground floor...on days where attendance is high, it gets extremely hot in the school.

I will NOT steroids.  Extended use of steroids made for a VERY bad situation (surgery was required).  However, I am reluctantly believing that I may have to start my albuterol again.


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## Gemini (Mar 5, 2006)

Lisa said:
			
		

> So how about plastic manufacturing or other industrial plants in the neighbourhood? Has he been allergy tested to see if there is a correlation? (sp?)


Nope. Nothing like that around here. Alergies are dust. mold, pollen, ya know, common things. But, his asthma may act up even when none of these things are present. Just heat. Maybe it's not asthma at all, just asthma like symptoms. We'll be out in Vegas in a few weeks. I'm curious to see how he does there.


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## Lisa (Mar 5, 2006)

Gemini said:
			
		

> Nope. Nothing like that around here. Alergies are dust. mold, pollen, ya know, common things. But, his asthma may act up even when none of these things are present. Just heat. Maybe it's not asthma at all, just asthma like symptoms. We'll be out in Vegas in a few weeks. I'm curious to see how he does there.



Vegas is very dry, right?  Could be the humidity that triggers his asthma.  Vegas could prove to be interesting.


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## qizmoduis (Mar 6, 2006)

I've had asthma since I was a baby.  Just about anything that will irritate my lungs can trigger it.  Exercise in cold conditions is the most common for me, but also summer allergies, dust, and illness.  Heat alone doesn't bother me at all.  In fact, that can help lessen symptoms for me (but makes me cranky, which irritates other people).  If it's cold enough, I can have an attack just by breathing.

Twice daily Advair has done a great job controlling it for me.    I still carry around an albuterol inhaler for emergencies, just in case.  I wouldn't be able to train without the medication, except for times when the air was warm enough.

It actually went away (mostly) for a few years in late high school through college, but came back in strength about 10 years ago with an attack that, combined with the flu, sent me to the emergency room for treatment.  Until that time, my wife thought I was just making up stories for sympathy.  The part that really scared her was when the emergency room nurse admitted me immediately, bypassing the waiting room and folks who'd been there for a while already.  There was even somebody with a broken arm.  That kinda got her attention.

Unfortunately, my daughter seems to have inherited some of it.  Not nearly to my extent, luckily.

BTW, those of you who are afraid to use meds, for whatever reason, may wish to reconsider.  Untreated asthma will cause permanent damage to your lung capacity over time.  When your doctor tells you (at age 30) that you have the lungs of a 60yo 4-pack-a-day smoker, suddently steroids don't seem so bad.  Especially the ones they use to control asthma.


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## Shirt Ripper (Mar 6, 2006)

qizmoduis said:
			
		

> BTW, those of you who are afraid to use meds, for whatever reason, may wish to reconsider. Untreated asthma will cause permanent damage to your lung capacity over time. When your doctor tells you (at age 30) that you have the lungs of a 60yo 4-pack-a-day smoker, suddently steroids don't seem so bad. Especially the ones they use to control asthma.


 
Excellent point.  My asthma is exercise induced (the lame version, comparitively) and is weak at that.  Pretty much a non-factor anymore.


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## Kacey (Jan 1, 2007)

I'm going to resurrect this thread, as it deal with some questions I have.  Nearly two years ago, as I was getting ready to test for IV Dan, I started coughing a lot (the month before testing is a _rotten_ time to get bronchitis, let me tell you...).  The antibiotics cleared up a lot of the coughing, and I attributed the rest of it to Denver's brown cloud; the smog is a lot better now than it was when I moved here in 1984, but there are still occasional problems, especially in the winter - and I tested in February of 2005.

Near the end of the testing, I landed wrong and sprained my knee, which caused me to go back to the doctor.  She asked how my coughing was, examined me again, and told me I had exercise-induced asthma, probably triggered by the bronchitis.  She gave me a prescription for albuterol, which I used sporadically as needed - in fact, up until I went to the doctor last week, I was still using the same inhaler... which, it turned out, had expired in July (oops).

I went to the doctor last week because I was coughing, and had been for a couple of weeks; it had started on a bad air day (go figure) and never really went away, along with a low-grade fever, so I figured I had bronchitis again.  The nurse practitioner examined me, asked about my inhaler (which is how I found out it was expired), and sent in a tech to give me a lung function test... which came out low (just how low, I'm not sure - they didn't say).  The nurse practitioner then gave me a nebulizer treatment, after which my lung function increased 24%; following that, she gave me a new prescription for my inhaler (albuterol has been discontinued due to causing problems with the ozone layer) - this time a Maxair Autohaler - as well as a 14 dose steroid (I forget the name) to take morning and night, and directions to take the inhaler 2 puffs/4 times per day.  I also asked her, by chance, about some heartburn I was suffering, and found out - to my surprise - that heartburn can trigger asthma.  She gave me medication for that as well.

I also found out, by mistake, that my mother's brother and father both have asthma (something my mother mentioned by chance, and didn't think was important - she mentioned it when I was changing purses and saw the inhaler), so apparently there's a good chance this is at least partially genetic.

My question is - what do I do know?  Asthma is more than normally prevalent in Denver due to the altitude, and I seem to have more problems in the winter when the air is thinner and drier - although I generally only needed the inhaler in the past when training got intense.  The problem is, between instructing and going to grad school, I haven't been training that much, and I don't really have time to do more.  Any tips for managing this so it doesn't get worse - and hopefully improves - would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ceicei (Jan 1, 2007)

Perhaps you should have one additional category for those who have asthma that is not exercise based (different triggers) and does not need daily maintenance.

That is the category I am in.  I used to have an inhaler that I needed daily, but I haven't had to for years now once my triggers were understood and avoided.  As such, my asthma does not usually interfere with my training.

- Ceicei


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## Kacey (Jan 1, 2007)

You're probably right, but it wasn't my poll - I found this thread that Lisa started and decided to add to it rather than starting another one.


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## Drusilla (Jan 2, 2007)

Yes I am asthmatic. I get wheezy mainly when I'm training hard, such as cardio, but I also get it quite a bit when I'm not doing anything. I really need to give up smoking as I know that it would greatly help me and I'd not get so wheezy.


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## morph4me (Jan 2, 2007)

I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma about 10 years ago, given an inhaler, which I have to use about once every 8-10 months.  When I realize what's happening, if I take a break I can usually jump back in after about 10 minutes and finish my workout. It seems to only affect me when it's cold and dry outside.


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## Infinite (Jan 2, 2007)

Kacey said:


> My question is - what do I do know?  Asthma is more than normally prevalent in Denver due to the altitude, and I seem to have more problems in the winter when the air is thinner and drier - although I generally only needed the inhaler in the past when training got intense.  The problem is, between instructing and going to grad school, I haven't been training that much, and I don't really have time to do more.  Any tips for managing this so it doesn't get worse - and hopefully improves - would be greatly appreciated.



I've had asthma sense I was 7. It started off as particle enduced and moved as I got older to stressed enduced. We discovered it had shifted when I started throwing up after swimming class in Highschool.

My mother last year ended up in the hospital due to an acute ashtma attack. She literally died for 4 minutes do to respitory failure. She also just happens to work for the University of Michigan.

Anyway so tips.. first don't stop. If you let the asthma stop you from being active it will trigger sooner. Working your way back up again sucks. What I did is simply to do cardio at set intervals. 15, 20, 25, 30, minutes is where I started. I take my inhaler post event too ward off any post stress asthma.

Basically as long as you do 15 minutes of cardio a day you won't backslide.

For me and my mother cold was always the worst. It just feels like there is less oxygen to get. Some people its humidity (heat just heat) is news to me. No one knows why it happens but it seems that the intake of oxygen fluxuates and the body over responds and asthma kicks in.

Always have the inhaler and I think your doctor could probably provide you with a workout regimite that would keep your asthma at a maintainable level.

I suppose there isn't as much help in this as I wanted. I tend to stay away from Steroids but that might be an out dated medical oppinion. I'm not up to date on all the new treatments thay have now.

I did read an article that said removal of some tissue in the lungs via lazers could remove asthma.

Good luck! I'll be hitting the doctor soon myself so I can start training again.


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## Infinite (Jan 2, 2007)

Oh I know what I can add 

Resistive breathing techniques!

During the onset of an asthma attack (be it exercise or particle) you can purse your lips and provide pressure for your exhale.

I'm not sure what it does but the effect is pretty immediate. Somewhere after 2 minutes to 5 minutes breathing should become easier.

Also breath in through the nose exhale out the mouth and keep it slow and steady.


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## Ceicei (Jan 2, 2007)

Infinite said:


> Oh I know what I can add
> 
> Resistive breathing techniques!
> 
> ...



I also learned to do the same thing.  What it does, I think, helps calm things down and makes the handling of this better--to the point that perhaps dependence upon an inhaler could be minimized.  

Many people I know, when an attack comes on, would progress into panic and that just makes things worse.

- Ceicei


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## Kacey (Jan 2, 2007)

Thanks, all!  Panic isn't really the problem... this is a relatively new concern for me (over the last 2 years), and, except for exercise-induced problems, I don't necessarily recognize the symptoms, to know _when_ to take measures; as I said, I thought the coughing I was doing was bronchitis - it never occurred to me that it was asthma until the nurse practitioner did the lung function test.


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## searcher (Jan 3, 2007)

I have a slight case of EIA-exercise induced asthma.   I use an albuterol inhaler to control it, but I don't have very many problems with it.   I have found that if I am smart about what conditions I train in I can control it better.   I think my bronchial lining is getting more used to varying training conditions and it is slowly going away.


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## Infinite (Jan 3, 2007)

Kacey said:


> Thanks, all!  Panic isn't really the problem... this is a relatively new concern for me (over the last 2 years), and, except for exercise-induced problems, I don't necessarily recognize the symptoms, to know _when_ to take measures; as I said, I thought the coughing I was doing was bronchitis - it never occurred to me that it was asthma until the nurse practitioner did the lung function test.



Fair enough I shall give you some warning signs at least for me.

1) You (breath) talk (breath) like (breath) this. Even if you are 'winded' you can typically say a sentence example, "Hey sup." heavy breathing. "Man that was (breath) a workout."

2) Tingling ... tingling in your extremities and in your cheeks.

3) Dizzyness

4) Cramping in the extremeties

5) Throwing up (which is the last bit of symptom an attempt to correct the problem)

At least that it is for me.

--Will


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## zDom (Jan 3, 2007)

Lisa said:


> How many of us suffer from asthma and does asthma ever interfere with your training?  If you do have asthma, what do you do to control it?



Yes I have it, no it doesn't interfere with my training.

I presently control it using an Advair discus. I keep an albuterol inhaler with me, but rarely use it.

I once read that a disproportionate number of Olympic athletes are asthmatic.

I've also heard that alot of the triggers can be psychological, not just things like allergens.

I can endure a four-hour hapkido test without ever reaching for an inhaler, but five minutes of basketball and I'm wheezing


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