Researchers have found that children who undergo brief periods of intense exercise can exhibit lung dysfunction and other symptoms similar to those experienced by asthma patients. These symptoms can happen even when the child has no history of asthma. Lead researcher Dr. Alladdin Abosaida adds, “We did not expect to see pulmonary function abnormalities after short periods of heavy exercise in such a large number of healthy children in our subject population.” Further research is needed to determine the mechanism of lung dysfunction in children following heavy exercise and identify possible interventions.
American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference, May 2010