• Question: What happens inside the human body when an asthma attack occurs whilst playing sport?

    Asked by grococka09 to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 17 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Helen O'Connor

      Helen O'Connor answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I dont know the answer to that one grococka09 I’m afraid, I know more about psychology than physiology. I can imagine that whatever happens inside the body, it can be a really frightening experience. I would be interested to know the answer to this too, as that way I might be able to help some people I work with who have asthma deal with it if it ever happens to them during a competition.

    • Photo: Stuart Mourton

      Stuart Mourton answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      The simple and short (ish) version is that you lose some of your ability to intake and use oxygen. This is mainly due to the closing up of some of the airways that lead to and from the lungs. the inhailers that doctors give to people with asthma contain a substance that helps relax the muscles in these airways and opens them up again. Really serious attacks make the person panic, which also effects their breathing rate. They try and breath faster and faster through an airway that is much smaller than normal. They don’t get enough oxygen into their body and that is when you can be in real trouble.

    • Photo: Martin Lindley

      Martin Lindley answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Now this is a good question 🙂

      Asthma is an airways disease that casues narrowing of the airways in your lungs which is transient (not permanent it comes and goes depending upon what is casuing it).

      Exercise actually opens up your airways however most asthmatics find that between 10-20 mins after exercise there airways start to constrict (get smaller).

      What happens in an asthma attack is that a stimulus (pollen, cat hair, exercise etc) causes the smooth muscle surrounding your airways to contract, esentially squeezing your airways. Additionally your airways become infalmmed and the inflammation makes the airways become narrower. So its a double whammy !

      The affect is not permanent and will resolve naturally given time however there are a range of resuce medications that can help be relaxing the smooth muscle surrounding your airways and opening up your lungs.

      You can reduce the likelihood of an attack by using your medication correctly (this depends on what medication you are on, it might be daily inhaler use or it might be just befor eyou exercise). Also a good warm up will actually help reduce the severity of a subsequent ‘attack’.

      Personally my research suggests diet can greatly help the airways of asthamtics so I recommend the use of omega-3 fish oils, vitamin C and there is also evidence that caffiene can help but most doctors would not reccomend drinking too much coffee 🙂

    • Photo: Jenni Tilley

      Jenni Tilley answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      I think the boys have already covered this quite well. I suffered from asthma when I was little and it was very scary when I had a proper attack. It does have its advantages though – people with asthma get a free flu jab in the winter to help them stay healthy 🙂

Comments