View From The Treatment Room at Hednesford Town FC

There has been several players I have known who have to use Asthma inhalers before they run on to the pitch. I know because I have to carry their inhalers in my medical kit. It seems to be an unprecedented thing in a group of fit young men. However there are a lot of athletes, especially skiers and runners who get exercise-induced asthma. This may be apparent because asthma which does not matter to most people can mean the difference between winning and losing an Olympic medal.

As a fellow sufferer who has to occasionally use `Ventolin` I always felt that the condition was because of modern day pollution but it appears that people are born susceptible to the condition and irritants eventually `trigger` it off.  I have a Talbot ancestor, born in 1868, who was a policeman in Ireland, he was a champion athlete especially at  Fields Sports and `Tug of War` but in later life he suffered with Asthma.

Reading up on medical reports I understand that specialists now think that people who get asthma attacks only when they take exercise, have a milder form. Breathing hard (hyperventilating) brings out the `wheeze`. If you have Asthma, your air passages are irritable. Nobody knows exactly why the drying and cooling of the airway linings causes the reaction. Phlegm that forms on the chest is actually a defence mechanism.

Things which are harmless to other people may trigger an attack of asthma. So you might get asthma from cold air, pollen, cigarette smoke, the excitement and stress of running around in a sports game. Dust mites and animal hair is another trigger especially in the home. Colds and influenza does not help and can give a tight chest. Another irritant is Sulphur Dioxide which is a preservative in soft drinks and wine.

Swimming, because of the warm humid atmosphere, can be a relief to Asthma however some people may get a worsening of their condition from the chlorine fumes in the water. Sports and exercises which consist of short bursts of activity with periods of rest in between can be particularly suitable for people with asthma. Examples include relay races, and team sports like soccer in which you are not running all the time.

There is also persuasive evidence that gradual athletic training can make you less prone to exercise-induced asthma. At a special school for children with Asthma near Oslo in Norway, children ended up being able to do far larger amounts of exercise than they could tolerate before a physical training programme. Although some of this improvement may well have been due to the excellent medical care they received, the doctor in charge thought that the exercise training itself played a vital part in the improvement.

Competitive athletes may be concerned about disqualification because they use these drugs. The good news is that all the ordinary asthma medicines, used in the medically recommended way and dosage, are acceptable to sporting bodies like the Football Association. That is provided they are used correctly for asthma. The wise thing is to check with your doctor. In fact better treatment with medicines like the reliever Ventolin (blue) prevention Becotide (brown) and the long acting reliever `Serevent` (green) can have a powerful effect on exercise-induced asthma. The better your asthma is controlled, the less you will be troubled by it.