Methods of exercise challenge.

Standardized exercise testing may be useful to the competitive athlete, his coach, and his physician as a method to detect abnormal asthmatic responses to exercise and provide optimal therapy. It may be used to adjust conditioning and remove impediments imposed by asthma to optimal performance. Formal testing requires appropriate equipment to quantitate the exercise, monitor the athlete's response, and allow safe performance of the test. Techniques are available to detect the asthmatic athlete and assess the severity of the exercise-induced asthma. In addition, an exercise test in the field may be useful to help an asthmatic athlete adopt medication and training techniques to overcome handicaps created by his pulmonary disease.