Regular physical activity is generally recognized as effective in promoting health and well-being. But it’s also common for athletes in any field to have respiratory problems.
There is ongoing concern that frequent and repeated exposure to high ventilation in certain environmental conditions may adversely affect an individual’s respiratory health.
In addition, excessive sweating can exacerbate the negative impact of such conditions, leading to dehydration and potentially causing other health problems. Check this page for more information.
How can respiratory diseases impact an athlete’s health and performance? Are there any exercises and treatments that can improve the respiratory conditions of these individuals?
In this article, individuals who have or know someone with respiratory diseases can learn the exercises and treatments that may help improve one’s respiratory condition. This write-up also briefly discusses rare respiratory diseases, including mesothelioma.
The Types of Exercises That Can Help Improve the Lungs
When a person is engaged in physical activity, their heart and lungs work hard to supply additional oxygen to their muscles.
In other words, regular exercise doesn’t only strengthen the muscles; it also makes the lungs and heart stronger. When a person improves their physical fitness, their body also boosts its efficiency in delivering oxygen through the bloodstream and to their working muscles.
The American Lung Association recommends that adults engage in moderate physical activity for 30 minutes daily, five days per week.
Individuals don’t have to participate in a formal exercise program to benefit from this activity. Moderate activities like brisk walking, gardening, or recreational bicycling can count as exercise.
Aerobic activities like walking, running, or skipping rope can give the heart and lungs the needed workout to function efficiently.
Meanwhile, muscle-strengthening activities like Pilates or weight-lifting can build one’s core strength, improve posture, and tone the breathing muscles.
Breathing exercises can also train the body to breathe deeply and effectively and strengthen one’s diaphragm.
Treatments for Athletes With Respiratory Problems
When athletes experience respiratory symptoms, they often consult a general physician in the following settings:
- Primary care for symptoms like chronic cough
- Acute medical take for chest pains
- Referral to a non-respiratory specialist, such as a cardiologist, for dyspnoea (labored or difficult breathing)
Respiratory conditions affecting athletes and their corresponding treatment or management methods include:
Airways Disease
Airways disease is a chronic respiratory condition that athletes encounter most frequently. This condition is also called exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) because exercise often triggers transient and reversible narrowing of the airways that occurs with exercise.
Pharmacological treatment includes taking beta-2 agonist drugs 15 minutes before exercise. Non-pharmacological management includes warmups and wearing face muffles in cold weather.
Allergic Rhinitis
This condition occurs when allergens like dust, mold, and pet dander go through the nose and mouth and trigger an allergic reaction.
Symptoms of this disease include sneezing, a runny or itchy nose, and ocular symptoms. Among athletes, such symptoms can occur after exercise.
Therapies for athletes with allergic rhinitis include:
- Following recommended guidelines on allergen avoidance
- Taking second-generation non-sedating antihistamines
- Taking regular intranasal corticosteroids
Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction (EILO)
EILO is a condition wherein a transient or momentary obstruction in the upper airways during exercise causes wheezing (a high-pitched whistling sound while breathing) and dyspnoea.
This condition can mimic EIB, possibly resulting in the incorrect use of asthma treatment. Management of this condition includes physiotherapy referral and breathing control techniques.
Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction that involves several systems and organs like the skin, cardiovascular system, respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal tract.
For exercise-induced anaphylaxis, a broad range of activities, including mild efforts like strolling or ingesting sensitizing food, can trigger this condition. Physical activities like jogging, aerobics, bicycling, and dancing can cause the following symptoms:
- Shortness of breath
- Flushing
- Angioedema (swelling under the skin)
- Pruritus (itchy skin)
- Tightness of chest
- Loss of consciousness
- Headache
- Nausea
- Choking or throat constriction
To manage exercise-induced anaphylaxis, individuals should identify the food triggers and refer the affected person to an allergy specialist.
Rare Respiratory Diseases
Despite individual rare lung diseases affecting only a few people, the total impact of these diseases is enormous, striking up to 2.5 million people in North America.
Respiratory diseases can affect individuals of any age and ethnicity. For example, the symptoms of cystic fibrosis can manifest as early as infancy when genetics is likely to cause this rare respiratory disease.
Rare respiratory conditions include:
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH): This disease is an incurable form of pulmonary hypertension and occurs when the lung arteries become narrow and thick, restricting blood flow and raising blood pressure in the lungs.
Conditions like congenital heart abnormalities, infections, liver cirrhosis, and genetics can cause PAH.
- Mesothelioma: This disease is an aggressive form of cancer in the tissue covering most internal organs. Mesothelioma often affects the tissue surrounding the lungs. It can cause chest pains, shortness of breath, painful coughing, and lumps under the skin on the chest.
Asbestos exposure is often the primary cause of mesothelioma. Asbestos fibers can get inhaled or swallowed and irritate the lungs or stomach, leading to the disease.
- Cystic fibrosis (CF): This condition is a genetic disease that causes a buildup of thick and sticky mucus in the lungs and other organs. Although CF has no cure, airway clearance therapy may help manage the symptoms.
Individuals who want to learn more about how exercise helps improve lung health or donate to help fund medical research on lung diseases can visit the American Lung Association website at Lung.org.
References
- Managing respiratory problems in athletes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4952126/
- Exercise and Lung Health
https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/wellness/exercise-and-lung-health
- Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8622-allergic-rhinitis-hay-fever
- Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis: An Update on Diagnosis and Treatment
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020292/
- Rare Lung Diseases
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21684-rare-lung-diseases
- Mesothelioma: Symptoms & Causes
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mesothelioma/symptoms-causes/syc-20375022
- Make a Donation to the American Lung Association
https://action.lung.org/site/Donation2?df_id=31271&mfc_pref=T&31271.donation=form1
