Physiotherapy and intensive physical training in rehabilitation of adults with asthma

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic disease which already affects a large proportion of the population in the world, and whose prevalence is increasing. Asthmatics suffer from recurrent airway narrowing, giving rise to symptoms such as breathlessness, tightness of the chest, wheezing, and coughing. They often lack adequate knowledge about asthma in relation to exercise, and perceive their disease as a limiting factor to physical activity. Medical treatment is a cornerstone in asthma management, but needs to be supported by other tools if self-management is to be the goal. One such tool is physical exercise, another is education. Persons with mild to moderate asthma are able to exercise at a maximal intensity level without deleterious effects on their asthma. After a rehabilitation period, including physical training and theoretical and practical education, improvements in health status and fitness were observed as well as reductions in emergency department visits, and alleviation of exercise-induced asthma and asthma symptoms. The deleterious effects on daily life decrease when the patients learn how to manage the disease. Both increased knowledge and improvements in practical skills contribute to this improvement.

Keywords:

• BRONCHIAL ASTHMA
• REHABILITATION
• EXERCISE THERAPY
• PHYSICAL THERAPY
• PATIENT EDUCATION
• EXERCISE-INDUCED ASTHMA
• PATIENT COMPLIANCE