Respiratory Tract Dysfunction in Sportsmen

Abstract

Actuality. Increasing number of macrocycles during athletes’ training focused on the achievement of high sports results leads to lower adaptive potential and as a result to the pre and pathological conditions, including – respiratory tract dysfunction. The aim – to analyze prevalence and reasons of respiratory tract dysfunction in athletes of high qualification. Results. The analysis of modern scientific data indicates high prevalence of asthma among professional sportsmen, skiers – 14–55 %, swimmers – 13–44 %, long-distance runners – 15–24 %. Professional sportsmen have got induced by physical loading laryngeal obstruction that is the main reason of larynx obstruction. The prevalence of this pathology among healthy population is ~ 5 % while among athletes – from 35 % to 70 %. Symptoms that indicate the infection of upper respiratory tract are between 30 to 40 % of the complaints of professional sportsmen in health facilities, especially among runners, cyclists, skiers, swimmers, rowers, and – tennis players and gymnasts. Currently, many experts hold to the hypothesis of «non infectious» nature of symptoms of URTI, likely of allergic nature. Risk factors, mechanisms of respiratory tract dysfunction in sportsmen were analyzed. Conclusions. The prevalence of respiratory tract dysfunction (asthma, induced by physical loading laryngeal obstruction, chronic cough, respiratory infections) among qualified athletes is much bigger than among the normal population. Determining risk factors are atopy, ventilatory needs of the kind of sport and training environment.

Keywords

• bronchial asthma
• bronchial hypersensitivity
• respiratory tract infections
• throat obstruction
• sportsmen