Management of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction without medication

Cycling is amongst the most provocative athletic activities to people suffering from asthma. However, people who do not actually have asthma may experience asthma like symptoms during exercise. This can be a disastrous thing to have to deal with during competition. The question is how to manage the disorder to keep the symptoms from coming back.

Bronchoconstriction in asthma is simply one inflammatory process involved with a number of triggers. Bronchoconstriction in exercise, according to some may not have the same level of inflammation as true asthma, but has similar triggers involved as well as a number of other factors specific to exercise. Truth is, though exercised induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) may not be the exact process as an asthmatic bronchoconstriction, it responds to the same medications used in asthma attacks and presents almost identically. This shows it's similarity in physiology. Short acting beta-2 agonists, such as Albuterol act similar to epinepherine to dilate airways. Though this gives a clue to the physiology, it masks the opportunity to remedy the situation systemically and thus eliminating it all together. Most people who do not have asthma do not have the same level of reactivity in their airways, meaning they don't have asthmatic symptoms outside of the exercise arena. This population, and even asthmatics can have that reactivity drastically reduced by changing diet, eliminating allergens and use of alternative therapies.

How to fix it:
1. Get in shape!
The more in shape you are, the less stress put on your lungs to perform. Intense stress on those airway can cause small scale edema leading to narrowing airways.

2. Reduce your body's propensity toward inflammation:
There are a number of ways to go about this. Supplements and diet are key. Dietically speaking, avoiding a diet that steers towards high glycemic index is important. This keeps your glucose/insulin regulation normal. Sugar is a damaging substance to have in the blood in high concentrations for too long. Decrease the amount of omega-6 fatty acids in your diet. Main sources of these are safflower, sunflower and corn oil. These are pro-inflammatory. Fish oils are amazing reducers of inflammation. There are basically no side effects at moderately high doses. Remember to buy high quality oils containing the omega-3 fatty acids Eiconopentanoic Acid and Dicosohexanoic Acid (EPA/DHA). Here is an article on them.

3. Know they allergies and allergens
This is the pandora's box of the situation. Allergies are tough. A lot of times we know what they are, but we know very little about what to do about it. The main allergies I am thinking of are the airborn varieties: mold, dust, etc. Food allergies are important considerations as well, and these often include milk, eggs, gluten and peanuts. Avoidance of these around race day will be at least a step towards eliminating bronchoconstriction.
Interesting side note. Many of the allergies responsible for triggering airway narrowing are IgE mediated. In the 1950-60's a researcher discovered that this immunoglobulin blocks beta-2 receptors. When these receptors are blocked, the agonists that normally agonize them and stimulate airway dilation cannot do their work. Know they allergies and allergens.

Ride on!