How Many Milan Olympic Athletes Have Asthma?

 

 

Are you planning on watching the Opening Ceremony of the Milan Olympics on Friday night? I love watching them and already have Olympic decorations up. Now I just need to decide on a menu. 

I have been watching some of the qualifying events, and those athletes are crazy. Did you know downhill skiers can reach speeds of 75 - 95 miles per hour? 

Olympic Athletes with Asthma  

Did you also know that asthma is the most common chronic condition among elite Olympic athletes?

A study published in PubMed says: 

"A recent study on more than 1,300 European athletes from the summer Olympics found that asthma prevalence was estimated to 16.5% across all types of sport and most often were found among endurance athletes (55.7%)"  

For average Americans, 7.7% have asthma. 

All sports are different, but endurance sports seem to have the highest number of athletes with asthma  (think cross country skiers and biathlon - and summer sports of rowing, swimming, and cycling.)

In addition to asthma, Olympic athletes can also have other conditions - like allergies that cause a congestion/runny nose, itching and sneezing. And eczema can cause annoying itchy skin.  

Olympic villages pack a lot of athletes into rooms and common living spaces. That means any illness can spread like wildfire through the village. 

Respiratory illnesses are always worse for those of us with asthma. If an athlete has swelling in their lungs from asthma, and then gets the flu, pneumonia, bronchitis, or COVID, they can get extremely sick and even need to be hospitalized.  

Can you imagine training for your sport for decades, but you get sick in the Olympic village and  have to drop out of your competition? How heartbreaking!  

Olympic Athletes Developing Asthma  

Some athletes may be born with asthma, or develop it in childhood. But did you know that training at high intensity for endurance sports can actually cause Olympic athletes to develop asthma?

You read that right.  

Olympic athletes who didn't have asthma when they started training, can later developed it because of the high intensity training affecting their lungs. 

Strange, but true. Check out the hyperlink above if you want to learn more. Fair warning: it's a scientific article, so it's not a light read!  

I'll be watching the opening ceremonies on Friday, and tuning into the competitions. I've never seen an Olympic athlete use their inhaler on camera, but I'll be watching anyway 

 Hugs, 

Andrea