How Does Exercise Trigger Asthma Attacks?
For reasons that are somewhat unclear, exercise can trigger an asthma attack. This doesn’t mean, though, that EIA will strike every time you exercise.According to Storms, changes in temperature and moisture in the airways may play a part in EIA. Rapid breathing due to exercise may cool and dry the airways, thus causing the muscles around the airways to tighten which in turn leads to asthma symptoms.Symptoms often increase when air pollutants, pollen, or cold, dry air is present. That’s why EIA is more common in cold weather sports like speed skating, figure skating, and cross-country skiing. The symptoms generally subside within 20 minutes. Then for durations up to three hours later, often called the refractory period , people may experience fewer asthmatic symptoms if they resume exercise, Wenzel says.
