A STUDY OF ASSOCIATION OF EXERCISE INDUCED ASTHMA AND FAMILY HISTORY OF ASTHMA.

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic condition caused by narrowing of small airways. It can be triggered by exercise and is called Exercise induced asthma (EIA). EIA causes a decline in FEV1, a Pulmonary Function Test (PFTs) parameter. The aim was to study the association of EIA and family history or previous history of asthma. A cross se Materials And Methods: ctional comparative study was done over 3 months including the student group of a rural Medical College and Hospital. The study included 90 asymptomatic subjects - 30 normals (control group), 30 with family history but no previous history of asthma, 30 with previous history of asthma. Detailed history, anthropometry and PFT (before, immediately after and following recovery from exercise) were performed. All acquired data was statistically analyzed. The basic characteristics of the 3 groups were comparable. PFT parameters at baseline, aft Observations And Results: er exercise and recovery - , FEV1/FVC, FEF 25-75, FEF 50, FEF 75 of individuals with family history / previous history of asthma were signicantly decreased as compared to controls. FEV1 of cases was much lesser as compared to controls and showed a trend towards signicance. EIA is a Conclusion: well established and often under diagnosed condition. PFT testing with a decreased FEV1, FEV1 / FVC, FEF 25-75 is fairly diagnostic of the condition with a background family history / previous history of asthma. This implicates the scope towards the exercise training with knowledge of the underlying pathophysiology to plan preventive measures to care for those subjects with EIA.