New York, Sep 17 (IANS) Latest research has found that staying fit could help children recover from asthma, a chronic disease that affects the airways.
Children who suffer from this respiratory illness experience repeated episodes of wheezing and breathing difficulty.
The study that looked into 38 children with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma found that they could, however, benefit by improving their physical fitness.
Asthmatic children, even with moderate to severe disease, showed significant improvements in their ability to sustain work after a systematic exercise programme, the study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) said.
Daily doses of inhaled steroids used to treat asthma reduced in trained patients by 52 percent, but remained unchanged or increased in the control group.
When compared to controls, these children also reported a significant improvement in health-related quality of life, reported health portal Medical News Today.
“Children who experience breathing restrictions caused by asthma sometimes fear inducing breathlessness by exercise, which can cause physical de-conditioning over time,” said Celso Carvalho, an author on the study.
“This is where we often see patients with asthma having lower fitness levels. Physical training, properly supervised, is not only a possibility for this group, but also a management strategy for their symptoms,” he said.