A third of Team Sky’s riders are asthmatic - and it may be a hazard of being an elite athlete

Team Sky need to move from their HQ from the Manchester velodrome to somewhere near the coast - get some sea air in the lungs of their riders who all seem to have asthma......

The sad thing is that after all the Wiggins bullshit about asthma used to cover up him injecting steroids into his thighs Froome cannot get away with this even if it is innocent.  Wiggins finally gets his revenge on Froome for the attack on him at the 2012 Tour!

Quote:

Would someone who did not have asthma get any advantage from using an inhaler?

Depends entirely on the medication used and the dosage.

Would someone who did not have asthma get any advantage from using an inhaler?

Yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salbutamol#Society_and_culture

From time to time I use a peak flow meter just to see how my aged lungs are doing. Recently, amid the chatter about whether inhalers work or not, I measured my effort before and after using my reliever inhaler. I was rather surprised to find an increase from 600 to almost 700 on the scale, I am only left to wonder why I don't seem to get much benefit while cycling after taking a couple of puffs. I seem to get more relief after an event rather than during.

Rider A:

I have a slightly lower red blood cell count than some other athletes, therefor I use EPO to bring my oxygen carrying capacity up to realise my full potential.

Rider B:

I have a slightly lower airflow capacity than some other athletes, therefor I use Salbutamol to bring my oxygen intake capacity up to realise my full potential.

My understanding is that salbutamol is/was on the banned list not because it is performance enhancing but because it masks the presence of performance enhancing agents.

My understanding is that salbutamol is/was on the banned list not because it is performance enhancing but because it masks the presence of performance enhancing agents.

I think half the problem is people without asthma just dont understand the condition, Its not a case of simply being a bit out of breath doing physical exertion, so dont understand what the medication for it actually does. it certainly doesnt give you a free pass on performance at all.

Ive had asthma since I was a kid and with the cold weather at the moment,Im certainly experiencing exercise induced asthma attacks on rides Id have no problems completing in the warmer summer months.

You cant breath is simply how best to describe an asthma attack, you start to gasp for air trying to force almost, just some oxygen into your lungs, your heart races,your chest feels like you are being crushed and you begin to feel dizzy, its as much as you can do to grab or even hold your inhaler to get some initial partial relief,because it maybe 5-10mins before your airways relax back and are breathing normally again, whatever normally really means for someone with asthma.

and thats with reasonably mild asthma, thats medicated daily, three people die every day in the UK from having an asthma attack like that, its not an excuse to skip PE & its certainly not performance enhancing.

Here's a thought. If you don't look then you don't find.

Has anyone stopped to think maybe, just maybe, a high percentage of the entire population may suffer from asthma to varying degrees in all its various forms (and I'm quite happy to accept that EIA is a form of asthma).

Because athletes are pushing their bodies further than most and are poked, prodded and peered at more than most then you are going to be more likely to find underlying health conditions.

How many times has someone got to the top of a flight of stairs, stopped, drawn a deep breath and said "God! I'm unfit!" Maybe they have a form of asthma or maybe they are just unfit. Unless someone actually checks how will you, or they, know.

Just a side note on asthma. I have asthma and I've found that taking fish / krill oil high in 'EPA' (Eicosapentaenoic acid) really helps my asthma in winter. My general condition is better throughout the year also.

Some great points, but also many debatable ones.

On Wada, I'm not sure I'm willing to leave it all to "the experts" there. See this, for example.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/nov/13/world-anti-doping-agen...

Sidenote on childhood asthma:

There's no real understanding on whether this is a different thing or whether it's a scale. Given the prevalence of asthma diagnosis among athletes (who are checked out by doctors much more often than other people), I'd say that what you recognise as 'normal asthma' is simply quite a severe case on a reasonably stretched out scale of bronchial constriction issues.

My take on this, just like Scotland is often painted the sick man of Europe, this may just be a case if too much testing and too many statistics.(Scotland has more health stats than any other country in the world)

If you do wider testing, you get more positive results.

Perhaps these numbers are the same as the general population, it's just that they haven't all been tested.

"...It’s a grey zone. But my argument is it’s a form of asthma."

That seems a key statement, implying others do not agree these symptoms should be called Asthma. The ethical question would be whether a exercise-induced condition for an athlete is equivalent to similar symptoms not associated with exercise, and which qualifies for an exempted treatment having the effect of improving performance.

Potentially open to abuse and worthy of discussion, I'd think.

Storm in a tea cup in my opinion. I get a tight chest when I'm pushing hard in cold weather. Often wondered if an inhaler might help loosen it a bit . But I usually keep efforts down and concentrate on getting distance in and work on pedalling style, stuff that will give me a good base for summer.
Some of the climbs in the Lake District can have you gasping like a fish out of water no matter if it's warm, cold or anyway in between.

Interesting...

Me, I have asthma. Had it since I was a kid. I used to hate running because of it.

I used to like cycling though, so I'd go out around the lanes and at first my breathing would be restricted, it'd just continue without using the inhaler. After about half an hour my lung function would improve. I kept going like this until I didn't need to use my inhaler.

Later I liked running, and tried to run 10 miles at least once a week, then cut back to five miles most days. That was all weathers I could. I was still doing OK.

Then, older, and less fit, moving around and lived in a flat that had damp. It almost killed me. Couldn't believe mold could be that deadly. Couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without needing the inhaler. The mold was hidden at first and then damp and the mold started to appear (the flat had been newly painted).

well I thank God that I moved from there to a nice place, and then went to work in the middle east for a few years. The dryer hotter environment must have been good, because I don't think I used my inhaler once.

Now, some days I do feel like I need to take the inhaler. Sometimes at night, but not very often, but If I do feel that way, most likely I go cycling. That really helps. Perhaps it's the steady breathing that does it.

Breath control takes concentration but I guess it's not something you think about that much when you don't have asthma. It can make a difference for me though, especially on climbs.

Agree. No benefit for "normals". No airway constriction to reverse. Indeed, the tachycardia (increased Heart Rate) that also occurs with Salbutamol and other beta agonists would adversely impact on performance.

Would someone who did not have asthma get any advantage from using an inhaler?

Back in my day we used to call it 'pursuiter's cough'! Even now I know I've done a really hard training session if I get it.

So here's a theory... do people who have had restricted airways throughout their formative years (during exercise, or in general) develop higher red cell counts, do their red cells hold more oxygen, does it 'train' the body to be more efficient than someone who does not have that impairment?