SEATTLE, Jun 1, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Ingesting caffeine within an hour of
exercise can reduce the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma, U.S. researchers
said.
Co-investigator Timothy Mickleborough of Indiana University in Bloomington and
colleagues said the caffeine study involved 10 subjects with exercise-induced
asthma in a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, crossover study.
The subjects ingested 3, 6 or 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body
weight or a placebo an hour before running on a treadmill. Pulmonary function
tests were conducted 15 minutes before a eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea challenge
-- a surrogate for an exercise challenge -- and then again one, five, 10, 15 and
30 minutes afterward.
The researchers found 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight was
as effective as the use of an albuterol inhaler to treat or prevent
exercise-induced asthma. The smaller amounts of caffeine of caffeine per
kilogram of body weight also reduced the wheezing, coughing and other symptoms
of exercise-induced asthma.
For someone weighing 150 pounds, 3 to 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of
body weight equals around 205 to 610 milligrams of caffeine, Mickleborough said.
The findings were presented at the American College of Sports Medicine
conference in Seattle.
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