College athletes have exercise-induced asthma and often don't know

In a study of college athletes in the United States it has been discovered that many of them displayed the signs of exercise-induced asthma.

The researchers found in fact that of those tested for breathing problems more than one-third of the athletes tested positive.

The researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center screened 107 Ohio State college athletes for exercise-induced asthma.

Their sports include basketball, football, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

The research team found that 42 (39 percent) of them tested positive; even more of a surprise was that 36 of the athletes had no previous history of asthma.

The researchers say the findings were not influenced by the sex of the athlete or by the sport.

Dr. Jonathan Parsons the lead author of the study says college athletes were chosen because of the many reports of severe episodes of asthma provoked by exercise which have occurred among competitive athletes under the age of 21.

Dr. Parsons believes that now that it has been found to be a quite common problem, more research is needed to determine the best way to monitor and manage athletes at the highest risk of developing symptoms while participating in their sports.

Exercise-induced asthma occurs when airflow to the lungs is reduced due to narrowing and closing of the airways in association with exercise, which usually occurs just after exercise.

Dr. Parsons says that exercise-induced asthma affects most asthma patients and is more common in elite athletes than in the general public.

Dr. Parsons says one important finding of the study was that a history of symptoms with exercise is not enough to make a correct diagnosis and could expose people to unnecessary medications; he says objective confirmation of suspected exercise-induced asthma with appropriate testing is absolutely critical.

The study is published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.