Functional effects of controlled physical activity in children and young adults affected by exercise-induced asthma treated with corticosteroids and beta(2)-agonists

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence and validity of a controlled physical exercise programme and two different premedication s in preventing exercise-induced asthma in children and young adults. Patients and Methods: A total of 42 children and young adults (20 male and 22 female) with exercise-induced asthma were studied. The physical exercise consisted of 10 minutes of warming-up exercises of mean intensity, 30 minu tes of interval training, and 10 minutes of submaximum physical activity ab le to induce an increase in heart rate up to 160 to 180 beats/min, followed by 10 minutes of warm-down. Patients were divided into two groups accordin g to their drug pre medication: group A (21 patients): 100 mu g of beclomet hasone + 200 mu g of salbutamol; group B (21 patients): 250 mu g of fluniso lide + 10 mu g of procaterol. Results: Pretreatment with controlled physical exercise produced a statisti cally significant (p < 0.005) increase in the respiratory function in these children and young adults for all groups. In particular, patients in group B who received flunisolide (250 mu g) + procaterol (10 mu g) showed an inc rease that was significantly greater (p < 0.000005) than that obtained afte r the bronchodilation test alone. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated a beneficial effect of controlled physic al exercise in children and young adults with exercise-induced asthma. This exercise significantly increased the effect of drug premedication.