9 May 2019 Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. This inflammation causes obstruction, narrowing, edema of the airways, increased mucus production and causes an excessive reactivity of the bronchi to different stimuli. Several factors can trigger symptoms in people who have a tendency to have asthma. Exercise-induced asthma is the one that is induced by physical exercise. Exercise-induced asthma is due to a decrease in airways caliber (bronchoconstriction) triggered by physical exercise. Symptoms like difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing and chest tightness feeling usually appear or worsen after cessation of effort. How is exercise-induced asthma treated? If asthma symptoms only appear in the context of physical exertion , and there are no other risk factors for exacerbations , treatment may consist only of pre-exercise bronchodilator therapy . Adequate warm-up has also been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of exercise-induced asthma symptoms. On the other hand, if the patient has symptoms of asthma even at rest but worsens during physical exercise , he must comply with the treatment appropriate to the severity of his asthma and this will be sufficient to prevent the symptoms during sport. If the patient maintains symptoms of his asthma under physical effort, it means that his disease is not adequately controlled and the treatment should be reevaluated. Exercise-induced asthma should not be a reason to avoid physical exercise. If the disease is properly controlled and treated, there will be no limitation. The authors of this text are the following allergologists from the Hospital da Luz network: Luís Miguel Borrego, Ana Morais Mendes, Ana Reis Ferreira, Andreia Ferrão, Carlos Braga, Cristina Lopes, Diana Pereira da Silva, Filipa Semedo, Isabel Costa Silva, João Gaspar Marques, Pedro Carreiro Martins, Marta Salgado, Nuno Sousa, Rosa Anita Fernandes, Susana Piedade The content published in the Health Guide is intended for the general public and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not replace individual medical assessment, diagnosis, or personalized clinical advice from a qualified healthcare professional. The content is produced or reviewed by physicians and other healthcare professionals at Hospital da Luz and is based on the knowledge available at the time of publication or the most recent update, as indicated at the beginning of each item.
