Introduction: Numerous recent studies have shown that the risk of developing asthma or exercise-induced asthma is increased in the athletic population, particularly in endurance-trained athletes at national and international level.
State of art: According to the literature, this could be explained by both hyperventilation during exercise and increased airway exposure to inhaled allergens, pollutants and/or cold dry air. However this form of asthma seems to differ from classical asthma.
Perspectives: In the future, the establishment of rigorous controls - via a detailed description of symptoms and documentation of objective measurements such as resting spirometry, bronchial hyperreactivity and reversibility - should allow early detection of respiratory problems in athletes and enable to provide an adequate treatment.
Conclusions: Although asthma and exercise-induced asthma are particularly common among athletes, if appropriately detected and treated, these disorders should not constitute a limiting factor in exercise performance.