A breathing mask attenuates acute airway responses to exercise in sub-zero environment in healthy subjects.

Purpose: Cold air exposure is associated with increased respiratory morbidity and mortality. Repeated inhalation of cold and dry air is considered the cause of the high prevalence of asthma among winter endurance athletes. This study assessed whether a heat- and moisture-exchanging breathing device (HME) attenuates airway responses to high-intensity exercise in sub-zero temperatures among healthy subjects.

A heat and moisture-exchanging mask impairs self-paced maximal running performance in a sub-zero environment.

Purpose: Heat-and-moisture-exchanging devices (HME) are commonly used by endurance athletes during training in sub-zero environments, but their effects on performance are unknown. We investigated the influence of HME usage on running performance at - 15 °C.

Methods: Twenty-three healthy adults (15 male, 8 female; age 18-53 years; [Formula: see text] men 56 ± 7, women 50 ± 4 mL·kg·min) performed two treadmill exercise tests with and without a mask-style HME in a randomised, crossover design.

Asthma Control and Asthma Medication Use among Swedish Elite Endurance Athletes.

Background: Asthma is common in elite athletes. In this study, we examined the use of asthma medication and asthma control in endurance athletes in Sweden and compared the findings with those in a reference group of patients with asthma.

Methods: The Asthma Control Test (ACT) and a questionnaire on asthma, respiratory symptoms, and medication use were posted to endurance athletes (=711) and the reference group of patients with asthma (=1026).