Sports enthusiasts with asthma
For more confidence in coping with asthma.
Sport despite asthma? You bet!
It’s fine for people with asthma to do sports – in fact, sporting activity has even been proven to help!
The prerequisite for this, however, is that you know as much as possible about your current state of health. This is where Vivatmo me comes in. Because Vivatmo me enables you to measure your FeNO value from the comfort of your own home – and plan your exercise regime accordingly.
Andreas has tested Vivatmo me
“Being able to continue to do sports despite my asthma means everything to me!”
Andreas suffers from exercise-induced asthma. However, his fear of having to give up running training because of this is unfounded – also because he now closely monitors his daily form and can adjust his sports workload accordingly.
How Vivatmo me works
Hold the device to your lips like a flute and breathe out evenly through the disposable mouthpiece. FeNO measurement is simple, quick and stress-free. The LED display on the device shows you whether you are blowing too gently, too hard or just right. The measurement only takes a few seconds. After successful measurement, you can read the results immediately. The traffic light colors show you the range of your FeNO values, helping you decide how much physical exertion you can take today.
Answers to frequently asked questions
Apart from regular medication, it is also important that asthmatics take regular physical exercise. Sports, relaxation exercises and a well-executed breathing training have been shown to have a positive influence on the course of asthma, on physical fitness and everyday life. Regular FeNO measurements enable you to determine the current level of inflammation in your lungs. The measured value helps you to better estimate your physical fitness level, so that you can decide with confidence whether to engage in sports activities today or not.
You should measure your FeNO value regularly, ideally at the same time of the day. If you’re not sure whether doing sports is a good idea or not, you can measure your FeNO value before you start your sports program and then decide how fit you feel.
A FeNO value that shows up green indicates that the asthmatic inflammatory process in your lungs is currently well controlled. Nevertheless, physical exercise can trigger asthma symptoms, especially in patients with so-called exercise-induced asthma.
Talk to your doctor about how much exercise is good for you. Draw up a training plan together and determine at what FeNO value you can hit the ground running and when it would be better to take a break.
Many asthmatics don’t risk doing sports because they fear that they will suffer an asthma attack. And it’s true that physical exertion can trigger asthma symptoms. When you do sports, you breathe faster and tend to breathe through your mouth. As a result, the air that flows into the lungs is colder and less humid. This can cause the mucus membrane in the bronchi to swell and narrow the airways.
And yet even if you do suffer from asthma it’s important to do sports: A lack of exercise causes the muscles, including the respiratory muscles, to atrophy, and the body becomes increasingly untrained and less efficient.
Sporty asthmatics, on the other hand, often have better lung function, have fewer attacks and require significantly less medication over time.
Especially in the case of exertional asthma, good preparation (e.g. with medication) can reduce and control the risk of seizures well. Over the long term, physical activity is the best way to get a grip on exertional asthma.
In principle, asthmatics can practice all sports, with the exception of diving. Diving increases the risk of an asthma attack, which can be a life-threatening situation under water.
In sports such as swimming, walking, cycling, and dancing, the physical strain is evenly distributed – it can be well managed and slowly increased. What’s important is not that the sport is strenuous, but that you move.
In principle, however, the following applies: Not everyone reacts in the same way to certain movement sequences and exertions. So there are no fundamental prohibitions with regard to the form of movement or type of sport. Talk to your doctor about your training plans and try out what you enjoy and does you good.