Asmtha & Diving

[lobster]

Do many people have asmtha here and does it affect their diving? I have mild asmtha and attacks are now few and far between. I had no problems so far in the water (usually cold and 20m-45m). It doesn't stop me worrying about my next medical though, it seems some doctors here won't pass you

[Captain Deco]

Miss Scubajay has very bad asthma but has no problems diving at all, provided we do everything nice and slow and just relax.

She was also signed off to do her TDI deco procedures as well.....


So there will 2 Scubajays racking up the deco!!

YAY!!! post 1000!!!

No it's not.

[Jenkins]

I have asthma - all be it very mild.

For me the triggers are:
Allergy (I still haven't pinpointed to what) - so filtered clean air is brilliant.
Temperature changes - OK yes this could be an issue when diving but if I felt myself getting tight on the surface I would abort the dive, once acclimatised in the water it won't affect me (I've even done ice diving).
Exercise - I can't run to safe my life but swimming is fine and I have never had a problem when diving

My last medical was long winded with peak flow readings taken over a period of 40mins after a session on the stepping machine - I am not as fit as I would like and was puffed, but easily reaced the minimun reading.

[Depth-junkie]

I am no doctor so a medical is a wise choice,

But my own Asthma not sport induced (mild) never actualy had a full attack as of yet, is caused by my allergys (hayfever and cat hair and pollution), and the fact we own 3 cats dont help much....but hey ho.

I use a purple inhalor (2 puffs a day) hello sailor and have a blue for those short of breath moments (it never gets used more than a few times a year, normaly on summer nights when i wake up out of breath/weasey when the pollen count is very high)

Funny thing is when i go abroad i dont need the inhalers or my hayfever medication, but in the UK i need my tablets all year round winter/summer.


As i said my asthma is mild and non sport releated. I dive all year round in the UK and abroad upto depths past 100m in water as cold as 4c, never had any problems.

I personely have never botherd with a medical, as i see no need for my condition. But thats just me, as far as i am concerned i dont have proper asthma but just the odd bout of weasing after stroking the cats and getting cat hair everywear. Or on summer nights when the pollen count is very high and the wife has had the window open all night. But as far as my medical records go i have asthma, just the same as the folk on dissability who cant walk more than 5 yards......go figure


ATB
Gareth

[Ferg3333]

This year I got treated similar to depth junkie, but my average peak flow was 740 should be 627 for my height, so thats good so I got to come off the inhalers and now need to shift 2-3 stone, before my HSE medical. They are still unsure as to what my wheeze(what I was being treated for was) as I believe my wheeze (only evident on a fast forced exhale) is attributed to my weight.

I never had an asthma attack, and never got shortness of breath just my peak flow dips in the hayfever months I have a severe allergy to pollen. I doubt it would cause any problems, BUT make sure you are aware of the risks, such as pulmonary barotrauma due to constriction of airways and an ascent if you were to get an attack. If the doc says its ok your ok, the purple inhaler is a preventer and protector it has a long acting beta 2 agonist in it which keeps your airways open, I think its salmeratol.

If you are symptom free for 48 hours before a dive, and you know your triggers then you may dive under the ukdsmc guidelines.

[liamm]

I've got asthma and dive with no problems. I am symptom free but will tend to pick up a chest infection about december most years that puts me out of the water for a month. My advice is to keep up the dive medicals - i do a medical every two years. I did alot of competive swimming when young and this helped my asthma - my peak flow is easily in the 700's and i feel fine with it. I can manage a 10k run and can still swim 50 mtr in under 50sec which i recon isnt bad.
As long as its controlled then diving should be ok but get a Doc to confirm this.
What make me mad is when a 20st fatty sees the inhaler in my dive bag and and says "oh i didnt think asthmatics could dive, arnt you a risk for your buddy?" - the reply "oh well i didnt think beach balls could sink but you manage it " went down like a ton of bricks but there you go.

[Gene_Hobbs]

Just a few references to help with your search for info...

The most recent articles I liked were:

British Thoracic Society guidelines on respiratory aspects of fitness for diving.
Thorax. 2003 Jan;58(1):3-13.
PubMed ID: 12511710

and

Asthma and the diver.
Davies et. al.
Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2005 Oct;29(2):131-8.
PubMed ID: 16251767

Others of note are:

Elliott DH (ed). Are Asthmatics fit to Dive. Proceedings of a Symposium held 21 June 1995. UHMS Publication Number 06-21-95. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1996; 81 pages.
---This symposium has a nice forward that discusses the legal implications of clearance (held after the Americans with Disabilities Act to form a consensus statement).

Vorosmarti J, Linaweaver PG (eds). Fitness to Dive. 34th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 70(WS-WD)5-1-87. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1987; 116 pages. RRR ID: 4249

and one closing thought from the 34th UHMS Workshop on Fitness to Dive. "Fortunately, most of us have a basic understanding of what asthma is because the participants of the CIBA Foundation study group on the 'Identification of Asthma' concluded, 'Asthma could not be defined on the information at present available.' (1). (In that respect, asthma seems to be somewhat like pornography; we can't define it, but we all know it when we see it.)..." --TS Neuman.

Please let me know if you are having any problems locating a reference.

[benpanter]

I'm a very mild asthmatic, and have been diving for 15 years. Back then you needed a chest x-ray to be allowed through the medical as an asthmatic (or at least that's what they told me!).

I'm only allergy based - temperature and exercise have never set me off - and it's been over ten years since I last needed to take Ventolin or similar.

From memory the referee who passed me told me the key issue was diving when feeling weasy. The weasiness is mucus down in the lungs, and the real problem is some of the mucus blocking up the top of some aveolii (the brocolli bits at the end of the lung airway), trapping some air inside. On ascent, apparently rather than blowing away the mucus it causes barotrauma, ruining everybody's day...

His advice was that it was fine to dive when feeling healthy, but if weasy, or likely to get weasy, to absolutely not to risk diving. It's worked for me for a long time!

Good luck,

Ben

[SilvaFish]

Originally Posted by lobster

Do many people have asmtha here and does it affect their diving? I have mild asmtha and attacks are now few and far between. I had no problems so far in the water (usually cold and 20m-45m). It doesn't stop me worrying about my next medical though, it seems some doctors here won't pass you

I come from a family with a very strong allergic background and I get wheezy with most animal hair and colds. After many visists to my GP, it turns out that it's only an allergic based thing, so for peace of mind, I ask Dr Clamp (a diving Doctor in the Midlands) to check my peak flow after doing the exercise on a step machine test. I don't take inhalors (Am the only family member that doesn't!) but am fine on the tests, and the best thing for me to do is to avoid pets, never go horse riding, and never dive with any sign of a cold. Am fine with most dogs though.

It would be a good idea to see if you can maintain good control through exercising and do one of these tests with a diving doc and get their opinion.

Good luck.

[Helen F H]

I have asthma, but its allergy based (when i get a cold sometimes, cigarette smoke, some cats, horses and dust). Not met anyone smoking, any cats or horses underwater yet, so im probably safe

However, i have heard a lot of different things about asthma and diving. The diving doc i saw wanted me totally off the blue inhaler as much as possible, so i had to go onto the brown one too for a couple of months before he would sign me off. The reason for this was as far as he was aware (and i looked further into this too) that the blue inhaler (salbutamol or similar) has a side effect of dilating the blood vessels in the lungs. This can allow bubbles to pass through the lungs and back into the arterial system where they can travel to the brain etc. Its the equivalent of having a PFO or an AVM in your lungs. However i also read (mainly in USA literature) that some doctors think the risk of barotrauma from vasoconstriction underwater was more than the risk of bubbles passing via the lungs, so they said to take the inhaler before a dive! Oh dear. I went off what my doc said

Some of them may want to do some more significant tests to check your asthma.

Peak flow - most asthmatics know this of old.
Exercise test - on a treadmill for up to 10 mins
Exercise test with breathing in a saline mist - to see if that sets you off

There are probably loads more, but i aint heard of them

The main advice i got was that i should monitor my peak flow, and if it was 10% less than my normal reading i shouldnt dive.