Asthma & the Elite Athlete

In an interesting article that was recently published in the scientific journal Sports Medicine entitled “Do Inhaled [beta]2-Agonists have an Ergogenic Potential in Non-Asthmatic Competitive Athletes?” I learned a few interesting tidbits.

• Asthma is more common among elite athletes than the general population

• Asthma is more common among endurance athletes (like long distance runners) and swimmers

• Asthma is more common among those who participate in winter sports (I guess the intersection of this and the previous point would be long distance cross country skiers).

The point of the article was to show that the ban on a certain inhaled drug, [beta]2-agonists, was not needed due to there being no physical enhancement (ergogenic effect) on performance, even at super high dose. But an interesting side point is made that I’m not sure needed to be made, that:

• oral administration of salbutamol seems to be able to improve the muscle strength and the endurance performance

I’m not sure it needed to be made because this method of administering this drug, orally, is already banned. But it might lead to some competitive virtually elite athletes* (Boulder is full of them) to consider using this substance.

clipped from pt.wkhealth.com

The prevalence of asthma is higher in elite athletes than in the general population. The risk of developing asthmatic symptoms is the highest in endurance athletes and swimmers. Asthma seems particularly widespread in winter-sport athletes such as cross-country skiers. Asthmatic athletes commonly use inhaled [beta]2-agonists to prevent and treat asthmatic symptoms. However, [beta]2-agonists are prohibited according to the Prohibited List of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

In three of four studies, even supratherapeutic doses of salbutamol (800-1200[mu]g) had no ergogenic effect. In contrast to inhaled [beta]2-agonists, oral administration of salbutamol seems to be able to improve the muscle strength and the endurance performance. There appears to be no justification to prohibit inhaled [beta]2-agonists from the point of view of the ergogenic effects.

* virtually elite athletes: athletes that are highly trained and in the top percentages of their field in sports or competitions that are not judged or regulated by international or national organizations.

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