title: The athlete "out of breath".
abstract: Athletes often complain about breathing problems. This is a crucial issue due to potential implications not only on their general health, but also on their competing performance. Asthma and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction are prevalent conditions in elite athletes, which leads doctors to rely most of the times on asthma medication to treat athletes feeling "out of breath". However, there are several other conditions that may mimic asthma and cause dyspnea in athletes. Effective treatment of dyspnea requires appropriate identification and treatment of all disorders. Proper knowledge and accurate diagnosis of such entities is mandatory, since asthma medication is not effective in those conditions. Herein we review the most common differential diagnosis of dyspnea in athletes, and describe the diagnostic strategies in order to increase awareness and to improve doctor's confidence on dealing with these patients.
authors.affiliation: Instituto & Hospital CUF Porto, Allergy Unit, Portugal. E-mail: marianafercouto@gmail.com Phone: +35 1 2200 39 000 Fax: +35 1 2255 13 601. Centre for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Couto
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal. Immunoallergology Department, Centro Hospitalar São João E.P.E., Porto, Portugal. Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreira
mesh_terms: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001250:Asthma, Exercise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D054874:Athletic Performance; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D016084:Bronchoconstriction; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005080:Exercise Test; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents
keywords: Asthma; Athletes; Breathless; Differential diagnosis; Dyspnea; Exercise