Clinical conundrums: How safe is exercise in patients with asthma and is high-flow nasal oxygen useful in respiratory failure?

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by recurrent episodes of coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. Physical exercise is known to trigger these symptoms in some individuals with asthma and may deter people from exercising.

The primary aim of the study by França-Pinto and colleagues was to investigate the effects of aerobic training on bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) using the gold standard method of doubling doses. Previous studies analyzed in recent systematic reviews that examined the effects of aerobic training and BHR were limited by the fact that their patient cohorts were greatly varied in disease severity and control and did not measure BHR using doubling doses. This study was a randomized, controlled, single-blinded trial in which patients either had breathing exercises alone (control group) or breathing exercises and an aerobic exercise training program for a total of 12 weeks. Forty-three outpatients from a single center, between the ages of 20 and 59 years, who had moderate or severe persistent asthma, were included in the study. Both groups had similar baseline characteristics. BHR was assessed using a bronchial provocation test with histamine and doubling doses before and after intervention.