Sweating protects athletes from asthma attacks
Active people who are prone to sweating may have some built-in protection from exercise-induced asthma attacks.
Active people who are prone to sweating may have some built-in protection from exercise-induced asthma attacks.
Researchers from America studied 56 healthy people who had symptoms of exercise-induced asthma, wheezing, breathless or coughing in response to physical exertion, to determine whether the same mechanism responsible for generating sweat also determines the amount of water secreted by the airways.
Researchers measured the lung function of the participants before and after giving them medication called methacholine, which in someone with asthma causes the airways to constrict at low doses. Participants were also given a drug called Pilocarpine, which induces sweat and saliva production.
They found that volunteers who tended to sweat the most in response to the drug Pilocarpine were less likely to show airway constriction after being given methacholine. Heavy sweaters also tended to have greater saliva and tear production. But it does not prove that the tendency towards sweating helps shield active people from exercise-induced asthma.
It was concluded that athletes wouldn't gasp if they sweat, drool or cry. The study showed that how much fluid your airways secrete could be a key determinant in protecting you from exercise-induced asthma. The results were consistent with the idea that a common mechanism may underline diminished sweat production and reduced water secretion in the airways.
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