Studies Find Asthma, Allergies Affect Olympic Athletes
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
Allergies and asthma can affect both summer and winter Olympic athletes but
do not have to be a hindrance to overall athletic performance if proper treatment
and medication are utilized, according to two new studies in the August issue
of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI).
One study, which tracked asthma in 1998 Olympic athletes, found asthma to be
more common in winter Olympians than those participating in the 1996 or 1984
Summer Games. While asthma rates vary widely among sports, study results suggest
that the environment in which a sport is performed can lead to a decrease in
the amount of exercise needed to trigger asthma symptoms.
Kurt Grote had battled asthma and its stigma for as long as he could remember.
Throughout his childhood, constant asthma attacks, hospital stays and visits
to the allergist were all part of daily life. With all his struggles and health
problems, Grote thought he would always be "the sick kid."
But Grote beat his asthma and went farther than he ever expected—all the way
to the winner’s platform at the Olympics.
Grote, a Gold Medal swimmer in the 1996 Olympics’ 400 Medley Relay and frequent
speaker at the Associates to the AAAAI’s Patient Education for Asthma and Allergy
Knowledge (PEAAK) program, recounts his frustrating battle with asthma and his
rise to Olympic stardom in a personal
letter available on the "Just for Kids" section of the AAAAI
Web site. In the letter, Grote discusses the social stigma that comes with asthma
and his first taste of competitive swimming as a skinny high school freshmen.
Despite the hurdles he had to overcome, Grote never gave up hope on his dream
to become an Olympic athlete. "Winning a Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics
in the 400 meters medley relay was a dream come true. It had been 11 years since
I swam my first lap, and the days when asthma ran my life seem far, far away
... I am in control of my asthma now," Grote states. "... Since becoming
a well-known swimmer, I have been interviewed many times about my experiences
at international competitions. But my greatest triumph happened much earlier.
It came as a high school freshman, when the odds were stacked against me, and
I chose to believe in myself rather than to give in to fear and self-doubt."
