Asthma and athletic performance.

Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is a manifestation of bronchial hyper-reactivity that poses a special problem for the asthmatic engaging in competitive and recreational sports. Recent Olympic successes by swimmers with asthma are not surprising in view of the lessened asthmogenicity of swimming. Neither the cause of EIA nor the reason why some forms of exercise have a greater propensity to provoke EIA is known. Preexercise prophylactic medication with selective beta 2-sympathomimetic agents or cromolyn sodium will reduce or abolish EIA in the majority of asthmatics if administered just before the event. Other agents are less effective or as yet not fully evaluated. With suitable control of exercise-induced asthma, asthmatics should not be unnecessarily restricted, and competitive sports or physical recreation can then occupy an identical role in their lives as it does for their non-asthmatic contemporaries.