November 27, 2007

Does Swimming Cause Asthma?

Posted by Christian

Go watch most any team in the world practice and I guarantee you that somewhere on deck you’ll see the telltale sign of swimmers with breathing issues. The telltale sign is, naturally, the inhaler sitting on deck amongst pull buoys, paddles, fins, and mesh bags.

I know that when I used to swim I’d take four quick puffs of my Albuterol inhaler before stepping up to the blocks (I don’t know if that’s considered cheating or not, actually, but everyone seemed to do it). Hell, even now if I walk out of the house knowing I don’t have an inhaler either in my pocket or in the car I start wheezing out of panic. My asthma barely bothers me anymore but the fact is that when I swam I needed that thing, needed it so desperately I’d wheeze at the idea that my inhaler was only almost empty.

And now after all these years and two extended trips to the hospital (both because of asthma) I find this report that swimming might actually cause the breathing disorder. Actually I’d better clarify that: Not swimming, but swimming pools.

An article in The Age states that between 16 and 20 percent of Australia’s last two Olympic swimmers were asthmatic. That probably qualifies as a statistical anomaly in a country where 1 in 10 people have asthma.

According to researchers cited in the article, a higher percentage of swimmers may be diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma, or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EBI) because of chlorine. Chlorine is, after all, a gas, one that was used as a weapon in World War I. It has since become a weapon against bacteria in swimming pools worldwide, but some scientists now suggest that overexposure to chlorine may act as an irritant to the airways, especially in indoor pools.

I’m not going to pretend to understand the science behind this, but I’ll say that it rings true with regards to my personal experience. I remember swimming in this stifling indoor pool up in New Jersey as a kid. The chlorine was so strong then that I’d sometimes have a hard time breathing just walking into the place. The fact is I wasn’t diagnosed with asthma until after I’d swum several years on that team. A reliable connection? I don’t know. But I can only wonder.