Aerobic Exercise May Lower Severity Of Asthma Symptoms

New findings published in the journal Thorax reveal that aerobic activity may help to reduce asthma symptoms and potentially the need for related drug treatments.

For the study, researchers compared the impact of aerobic training and breathing exercises on the severity of symptoms in 43 people with moderate to severe asthma.

All participants were between the ages of 20 and 59 and were randomly assigned to either a 30 minute yoga breathing exercise twice a week for 12 weeks or a breathing exercise and a 35 minute indoor treadmill session twice weekly for three months.

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness was tested at the beginning and at the end of the monitoring period, or a month, indicating the speed of airway constriction and inflammation--a hallmark of asthma.

Findings revealed that the quality of life score was significantly higher in those from the aerobic exercise group, while maximum oxygen intake and aerobic power also increased.

Furthermore, the effect was most noticeable in those who started out with higher levels of systemic inflammation and poorer system control.

"These results suggest that adding exercise as an adjunct therapy to pharmacological treatment could improve the main features of asthma," conclude the researchers, in a news release. 

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