How swimming is good exercise for people living with asthma

On a cold Thursday evening, 13-year-old Marie Christelle Orsolla, charges through the swimming pool with ease and less bothered by the chilly weather.

Her coach Max Kanyerezi is standing at one corner of the pool monitoring the action.

“It is important for her to swim because it will improve her breathing overtime,” Kanyerezi says, as he continues to shout instructions to Orsolla. “Go faster…that kick is not strong enough,” he tells her.

This is because Orsolla is not just a swimmer, she is also asthmatic. So, how safe is it for her to go swimming in a pool and is it recommended?

What the doctor says
Dr Simon Omeke, the District Health Officer for Katakwi District, says while asthmatic people have a normal air passage, they experience excessive and thick mucous discharge around the lungs.
So, from time to time, they are attacked by a sudden tightening of the bronchioles, which is a passage in the respiratory tract that transports air to the lungs.

This tightening, according to Dr Omeke, happens due to conditions such as cold and dust, leading to what is known as an asthma attack.

However, people like Orsolla and Edith Namulinda, a former competitive swimmer have been able to manage their asthmatic conditions and swim even during chilly weather, without having to worry about an attack.

One of the reasons they can so do, according to Kanyerezi is because swimming pool water is not as cold as people assume.
“Asthmatic people have small bronchioles that contract or narrow easily. This means that they would struggle to breathe in cold conditions. But because pool water is warm, they are able to overcome this challenge,” he says.

Another reason why swimming is recommended to people who have asthma is that it offers a healthy, cheap alternative as an exercise programme.

This is because it builds muscles that are used to breathe.
“When a person is under water, they are not really breathing, but rather holding their breath. The lungs are prompted to use the oxygen that has been taken in before holding your breath,” says Namulinda.

She adds: “In fact, as a person keeps swimming, they learn to hold their breath for long periods of time. But if a person realises that they could suffer an attack while under water, it is recommended that they get out of the pool as soon as possible.”

Precaution
However, precaution is necessary as Kanyerezi explains.
“We advise our asthmatic swimmers to have inhalers by the poolside. Not because we think the cold water may lead to an attack, but because we do not want them have no first aid,” says Kanyerezi.

He adds that certain foods such as beans, onions, garlic, sausages and drinks that contain caffeine or alcohol and smoking can also affect people who are asthmatic.

Winning medals
Having gone through regular, monitored training, Orsolla has become better at managing asthma, and swimming.
The youngest of three sisters, Orsolla started swimming aged seven in Kigali, Rwanda, where her family lived.

However, it was not an easy ride, as she took her time to learn while trying to overcome the fear of being in water or getting an attack while swimming.

“Although I feared water as a child, I was enthusiastic about swimming. I wanted to learn how to swim and my parents and my teachers encouraged me,” she says.

“My coaches in Kigali had worked with asthmatic swimmers. They never sent me away from the pool and perhaps my parents also knew a thing or two about swimming for asthmatic people,” notes Orsolla.

Supra, is a local swimming club, and Orsolla is one of their best competitive swimmers.

As a result, she was instrumental in helping the club win the Aga Khan Junior Swimming Championship competition held last year.
Despite living with her mother in Kasubi, a Kampala suburb, Orsolla swims for her home country Rwanda, at the international level.

She represented Rwanda at the Cana Zone III & IV Championships held in Lusaka, Zambia in 2012, where we she won bronze.
Orsolla and Namulinda are proof that when managed well, people who have asthma can still participate in activities that are ordinarily seen as risky to their lives, including swimming.

what is asthma?
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways that carry air in and out of the lungs. If a person has asthma, the inside walls of their airways become sore and swollen.

This makes them sensitive, and they may react strongly to things that they are allergic to, or find irritating. These include things such as dust, use of medications such as aspirin, changes in weather (especially cold weather), chemicals in the air or in food, exercise, mold, pollen, respiratory infections such as the common cold, stress and tobacco smoke.

When the airways react, they become narrow and the lungs get less air.
Common symptoms
•Wheezing.
•Coughing, especially early in the morning or at night.
•Chest tightness.
•Shortness of breath.
A doctor can diagnose asthma based on lung function tests, medical history or a physical examination.