Watch the Winter Olympics and talk about health | Yuzuru Hanyu, who challenges 4A, has been struggling with asthma

In the men's singles figure skating final of the Beijing Winter Olympics that just ended, two-time Winter Olympic champion and Japanese star Yuzuru Hanyu challenged the most difficult 4A move in figure skating, but unfortunately fell and missed the medal, which was a pity.

On the ice, he conquered the audience with his gorgeous dancing and was praised by CCTV commentators as "graceful as a startled swan and agile as a swimming dragon"; on the field, he broke through himself, challenged his limits, and interpreted the true Olympic spirit with courage. However, what is unexpected is that he is also an asthma patient and has been fighting the disease.

Yuzuru Hanyu was diagnosed with asthma when he was 2 years old. In order to improve his health, his family sent him to learn ice skating, because there is less dust in the ice rink, which is more suitable for children with asthma. With his talent, Yuzuru Hanyu has made great progress in skating - he won the gold medal in the Sochi Winter Olympics at the age of 19, broke the world record 19 times, and was the first to challenge the difficulty of 4A in the Olympic arena... Behind all this, in addition to hard training, there is also the courage to overcome the disease.

Can I do high-intensity exercise if I have asthma? If I have asthma, how should I treat it?

Asthma is not an exercise "terminator"

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, often manifested by recurrent symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which often occur at night and/or early in the morning and are accompanied by airway hyperresponsiveness.

Many people mistakenly believe that people with asthma cannot exercise. In fact, proper exercise will not only not make asthma patients' symptoms worse, but will also strengthen their physical fitness and improve their ability to resist respiratory infections.

So, what kind of exercise should asthma patients choose?

First, it is not advisable to choose sports that cause a lot of sweating and consume calories, such as mountain climbing and long-distance running. Instead, you can choose sports that are not particularly high in intensity, such as skating, swimming, and Tai Chi. Secondly, you should choose a suitable exercise environment, such as a warm, humid, but not dry indoor environment. Outdoor sports are not suitable for places with severe air pollution and a lot of allergens such as pollen. The most important point is that asthma patients should exercise when regular drug treatment reaches a stable stage. Exercise is not recommended during acute attacks.

Rational use of medicines and scientifically graded treatment

The goal of asthma treatment is to achieve good control of symptoms and maintain a normal level of activity. Clinically, the choice of therapeutic drugs can be divided into control drugs, reliever drugs and biological targeted drugs according to the severity of the disease and the level of control.

1. Control drugs: maintain the condition through anti-inflammatory effects, including inhaled corticosteroids (such as budesonide), long-acting β2 receptor agonists (such as salmeterol) and theophylline.

2. Relief drugs: also known as emergency drugs, relieve asthma symptoms by quickly relieving bronchospasm, including inhaled β2 receptor agonists (such as salbutamol), inhaled anticholinergic drugs (such as ipratropium bromide) and systemic hormones (such as methylprednisolone).

3. Biological targeted drugs: used as additional treatment for severe asthma, including anti-IgE monoclonal antibodies, anti-IL-5 monoclonal antibodies, etc.

In addition, allergen-specific immunotherapy, anti-allergic drug treatment, etc. can also be used.

Self-management to control relapses

1. Recognize, understand and avoid the triggers of asthma attacks. Common allergens in life include animal hair, oil smoke, dust, pollen, cold air, viruses, etc.;

2. Carry out self-assessment and monitoring of the condition;

3. Improve treatment compliance, use the inhalation device correctly, take medication regularly, and have regular checkups;

4. Balance nutrition, eat a reasonable diet, and supplement enough protein and calories, but limit the intake of milk, fish and shrimp.

Although most asthma cannot be completely cured, it can be completely controlled by long-term standardized treatment. Asthma patients can not only work, live and study like healthy people, but also shine their charm on the field like Yuzuru Hanyu.

Author: Zhang Wei, Chief Pharmacist of Shanxi Yangmei Group General Hospital

Review expert: Ren Jianye, chief pharmacist of Shanxi Yangmei Group General Hospital

Wang Baoxin, deputy director and pharmacist of the Pharmacy Department of Peking University First Hospital