Feature
London 2012 Olympics
What can we learn from asthma in elite athletes?
Cite this as:
BMJ
2012;344:e2556
- Sports and exercise medicine
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Displaying 1-3 out of 3 published
30 April 2012
Two points deserve to be mentioned that are often understated in literature, especially given the experience of our reference centre for paediatric asthma in a north-eastern region of Italy.
One is vocal chord dysfunction, characterized by a short crisis of dyspnea, often interpreted and treated as asthma because, usually, these crises follow physical exercise. It is considered to be a conversion disease and no pharmacological treatment is available.
The other is the extremely good response to treatment for asthma, making it a substantially non-life-threatening disease if two conditions are fulfilled: drugs being inhaled properly and a patient-tailored prescription.
Competing interests: None declared
Institute for Maternal and Child Health - IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo” – Trieste, University of Trieste, Italy, via dell'Istra 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
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26 April 2012
I see that in the penultimate paragraph the author asserts that asthma is not a life-threatening condition. She writes, "Because it is not life threatening, people tend just to modify their behaviour accordingly."
I believe this article falls short of the BMJ's normally rigorous peer-review process. The author has obviously not encountered any patients with severe asthma requiring critical care admission.
Competing interests: None declared
St Peter's Hospital, Guildford Rd, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0PZ
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25 April 2012
does it say at the end that asthma isn't life threatening?
Competing interests: None declared
kingsclere medical practice, north st, kingsclere rg20 5qx
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