Exercise and air pollution

[Adrenergic beta-2 agonists and their impact on physical performance]

That asthmatics benefit not only from physical exercise but that they can even reach performance levels comparable to that of non asthmatics is becoming increasingly clear. To reach such a level, asthmatics need to use drugs to prevent effort-related asthma attacks in addition to taking appropriate therapeutic measures. beta 2 agonists are drugs that potentially produce a certain amount of "anabolic" effect, depending on the dose and permanence in tissues, in laboratory and farm animals as well as in humans. We must conclude that the dose needed to obtain this effect is higher than that used for therapeutic purposes in asthma or respiratory diseases. Bearing in mind that oral treatments are considerably less effective than inhaled drugs in exercise-related asthma attacks, that the doses of the latter are lower and that the ergogenic effects of the substances studied are nil or below detection levels, it seems logical to allow individuals with asthma who use such substances to engage in physical exercise. Moreover, the asthmatic whose disease is so severe as to require the use of orally administered beta 2 agonists will in all likelihood be too ill to participate in a sport while that status persists.