Swimming is consistently one of the most popular Olympic sports.
However, at BJSM we don’t care about Twitter gossip on Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, nor are we particularly concerned if US Champion Michael Phelps wins more medals. We, of course, are interested in noteworthy research on swimmers’ health.
We focus today on Valérie Bougault and Louis-Philippe Boulet’s BJSM publication: Airway dysfunction in swimmers (May 2012). The authors discuss “upper and lower airway disorders in swimmers, underlying mechanisms of development and persistence, their general management and the future research needed to help understand their clinical significance in order to prevent potential long term damage to the airways.” Over 5,000 readers have accessed this paper – it’s on the way to being a landmark in the field.
Read the full article to learn more about the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of: the effects of chlorine, mechanisms of rhinitis, pulmonary/airway function changes, and their impact on athletic performance.
Bougault and Boulet’s insightful article is (free!) online here.
Want more on respiratory health in elite and amateur athletes?
See:
BJSM special issue on intensive exercise and respiratory health (May 2012). Including:
- Airway injury during high-level exercise (free online)
- Winter sports athletes: long-term effects of cold air exposure
- Effect of air pollution on athlete health and performance