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 You May Not (Just) Be Out of Shape
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. Airway inflammation causes the lining of the airways to be hyperresponsive to triggers, and limits airflow. An additional feature of asthma is an exaggerated bronchoconstrictor response, which happens when the muscles around the airways contract in response to triggers such as allergens, environmental irritants, viral infections, cold air and physical activity.
Experts agree that physical activity causes the environment in the lower airways to be cooler and drier than normal. These conditions make the muscles surrounding the airways contract, and thus the airways further narrow. The combined effects of the change in temperature upon exertion, and the pre-existing bronchoconstriction, lead to approximately 80-90% of people with asthma having physical activity as an asthma trigger. Another segment of the general population with no history or medical indication of "asthma" experiences bronchoconstriction 8-10 minutes after participating in moderate to strenuous physical activity. This phenomenon is known as exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), and is estimated to affect 6-11% of the population.
For the person with asthma, breathing problems can occur at any level of physical exertion and will often be additionally influenced by other triggers such as pollen, tobacco smoke and other airborne irritants. Generally speaking, the person with EIB will have no other obvious triggers, and will only be affected by quick inhalation of cold, dry air. Physical activity in these two different populations, people with asthma and people with EIB, requires slightly different sets of management skills and medications. Once controlled and properly managed, though, both groups should experience few disruptions of physical activity due to asthma or EIB.
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