Aerobic fitness improves asthma control in kids

Megan Rauscher, "Aerobic fitness improves asthma control in kids",
Reuters, September 25, 2007,
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/healt...55008020070925

Children with asthma are likely to breather easier, with less
medication, and feel better overall, if they boost their physical
fitness levels, a study from Brazil indicates.

In the study of children with appropriately-treated asthma, supervised
aerobic exercise training improved aerobic fitness and curbed feelings
of breathlessness induced by physical activity.

Moreover, daily doses of inhaled steroids were reduced by 52 percent
in children who participated in the exercise training, while the doses
remained unchanged or increased for children in a comparison "control"
group who did not exercise.

"Physical conditioning in asthmatic children receiving appropriate
medical treatment also improved health-related quality of life,
especially their asthma symptoms and exercise capacity," study author
Dr. Celso R. F. Carvalho, at the University of Sao Paulo, told Reuters
Health.

Carvalho also noted that parents of aerobically trained asthmatic
children reported being "less worried about asthma as a chronic
disease in their children."

The findings, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise, are based on 38 children aged 7 to 15 years with moderate-to-
severe persistent asthma who were randomly assigned to either a
supervised aerobic training group or a control group. Aerobic training
was performed at moderate to high intensity twice a week for 16 weeks.
All children were receiving appropriate medical treatment for their
asthma before aerobic training.

The findings in this study of improved asthma control with increased
aerobic fitness, the researchers conclude, highlights the importance
of maintaining regular physical activity in children with asthma.

"Children who experience breathing restrictions caused by asthma
sometimes fear inducing breathlessness by exercise, which can cause
physical deconditioning over time," Carvalho said. "This is where we
often see patients with asthma having lower fitness levels. Physical
training, properly supervised, is not only a possibility for this
group, but also a management strategy for their symptoms."

SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, September 2007.