One of the more popular forms of this condition, exercise induced asthma strikes many different people. As the name suggests, this is a condition that is brought about when someone starts participating in vigorous physical activity.
Sometimes they will not show any of the symptoms outside of planned physical movement and other times they will have attacks during rest as well.
The most likely cause of exercise-induced asthma is the change in temperature or humidity that one experiences when they begin their physical activity. Often breathing rate will go up naturally so if the air is a lot cooler this is going to increase the flow of air into the lungs and could trigger an attack. The airways will become narrow and the result will include symptoms such as coughing, tightening of the chest, wheezing, feelings of fatigue and a shortness of breath.
Exercise induced asthma may last for a period of between five and twenty minutes, or however long the individual tries to continue on with the activity (note however that they should be ceasing all movement if they feel an attack coming on). After they stop to rest, then the symptoms will usually pass in about five or ten minutes provided proper treatment methods are used.
You can help to prevent the onset of this condition by taking inhaled medication before starting up your physical activity. Short-acting beta-2 agonists are the preferred choice here as they can prevent the airways from contracting in and help to control symptoms for four to six hours afterwards. You can also help to prevent the symptoms from starting by ensuring you are doing a good warm-up before your activity. This not only controls the condition but will also prevent injuries and prepare your muscles for movement.
So if you have this condition do not think that you can never be active again, rather look into the preventative measures you can take to help make activity more tolerable and talk to your doctor about any medications you may be able to take beforehand to prevent any issues from occurring.
