Expert: Bailey - 12/19/2006

Question
I am 16 years old. I have been dancing for 7 years an i have had asthma for 5 years. i used to dance 4 hours a week and asthma was never really affected by this. since i started college in september, i have been doing dance and performing arts dance as well as my dance outside of college and i teach dance. My asthma got worse so i went to the doctors, they told me i had exercise induced asthma and put me on a regular inhaler as well as a salbutamol inhaler.
we have been doing stamina training at the moment and my asthma is really bad, i would say i was quite fit but when i run in stamina training i cant carry on longer than a few minutes because it gets so bad, but when i am dancing it is fine. Is it running making my asthma worse and why cant i run when i can dance for a long period of time. I am confused about this and is there anyway that i can improve my running?

Answer
Jessica,
 Have you previously had any problems with exercise-induced asthma? If not, and your asthma only started to get worse when you started college, I would consider the possibility that the worsening symptoms are due to the stress of starting college. It's not uncommon for asthma to flare up when you are making make changes in your life.
 I'm assuming your regular inhaler is albuterol, salbutamol is also albuterol. If, in a couple weeks of taking the salbutamol you don't notice any improvement then you may want to check with your doctor about trying a different type of medication.
 I am not sure why you would be able to dance, but not run, considering if the dance is close to the same intensity as running. The only thing that I can think of which may make a difference is breathing differences. You may have more controlled breathing while dancing compared to running. Try to control your breathing while running and see if you notice any difference.
 Exercise can actually be beneficial to people with exercise induced, or any type of asthma, as it can improve lung function. Start out doing only as much as you can before you begin to have problems, and gradually work your way up. You may want to get a peak flow monitor to check your lung function, as this can give an early warning to an asthma attack.
  I hope you are feeling better soon.
-Bailey