Wiggins - could this be a Similar issue as Lance A ?

[epom]

TwistingMyMelon said:

MarshPhantom said:

It's highly unlikely Brad has asthma. As a genuine sufferer you should be annoyed about this being used as an excuse.

Why do you think that , it's common in professional cyclists.

Just because he doesn't reference it in his books doesn't meAn he doesn't suffer with it

Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Wednesday 28th September 23:42

Of course its common in professional cyclists.Would you care to hazard a guess as to why ?
I wonder do the cycling organisations target Asthma clinics for new recruits. Oh that young boy has terrible asthma he will be a great cyclist sign him up.

[okgo]

Matt_N said:

What about Froome then? Yates or the countless others that 'have' it?

Reports that around 21% of the British Olympic team use inhalers too!

All came from nowhere to be fairly decent - ho hum.

[WestyCarl]

Fittster said:

Do you think Asthma should be more common in professional sportsmen than the general population ?

I suspect it is more common (if you can all it Asthma). Professional athletes stress their lungs far more than the general population and are far more aware of breathing issues.

[okgo]

I don't know many, if any amateur cyclists who are riding at a good level nationally that take an inhaler on rides with them.

[maxxy5]

Why do so many elite athletes have asthma?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Again above too much hearsay, anecdotes or outdated ill informed approaches

Plenty of peer review studies available that detail asthma and professional athletes giving a better informed approach, that detail the grey area betwwen which came first the chicken or the egg /

At a very basic low down level on our club hill climb time event on Saturday, two out of the top three top riders had asthma and struggle (wheezeing etc) with cold air in winter

[Granfondo]

Just imagine how good all these "asthma" cyclists would be if they weren't chronically ill!

[alock]

TwistingMyMelon said:

Plenty of peer review studies available that detail asthma and professional athletes giving a better informed approach, that detail the grey area betwwen which came first the chicken or the egg /

Forgetting the sport of cycling, Sky and Wiggins, I think there is some information the public now expect.

On the one hand we have a government who encourage us all to be more healthy by exercising.

On the other hand we have have some of the best sports doctors in the world prescribing some very strong drugs to some of the best athletes in the world and we're told this is perfectly normal and expected.

I would just like to know at what level it becomes normal to take these drugs because I want to make sure I stay well underneath it.

[MarshPhantom]

TwistingMyMelon said:

Again above too much hearsay, anecdotes or outdated ill informed approaches

Plenty of peer review studies available that detail asthma and professional athletes giving a better informed approach, that detail the grey area betwwen which came first the chicken or the egg /

At a very basic low down level on our club hill climb time event on Saturday, two out of the top
three top riders had asthma and struggle (wheezeing etc) with cold air in winter

There's none so blind and all that...

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Thankyou4calling said:

Maybe being a top cyclist makes you catch asthma, it's the cause!

Same as all the footballers and runners who have a puffer on the start line.

The fact is it's a farce, they've got exemptions so no rules broken but come on now.

We all know British cycling is focussed on marginal gains, microscopic improvements that all add up and this is one of them, they have found an angle and are exploiting it.

Do you actually believe that a quick puff on a Ventolin inhaler will give a performance boost?

[Thankyou4calling]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

Do you actually believe that a quick puff on a Ventolin inhaler will give a performance boost?

I absolutely KNOW it does. I use one and believe me it works.

[Matt_N]

So Callum Skinner has now openly published his records to prove that his asthma is real having suffered since age 5, his leak was against TUEs for Prednisolone and Salbutamol.

[WestyCarl]

Matt_N said:

his leak was against TUEs for Prednisolone and Salbutamol.

Which are the "normal" medications for Asthma.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Thankyou4calling said:

jesusbuiltmycar said:

Do you actually believe that a quick puff on a Ventolin inhaler will give a performance boost?

I absolutely KNOW it does. I use one and believe me it works.

Your belief may be giving you a placebo boost. I have a Ventolin inhaler - it sits beside my bed as I only seam to need it occasionally, mainly at night or if I get a cold.

Are you suggesting that a couple of quick blasts before a TT/Favourite Strava hill will help me get a PB? Somehow I doubt it will have any effect. I am pretty sure that having a puff on it when I don't need it (i.e when I am breathing normally) will have no difference.

A quick Google for a few reports on Ventolin/Salbutamol and the conclusions are that Ventolin is not a PED.

See:
http://thorax.bmj.com/content/56/9/675.full
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/ar...
https://www.outsideonline.com/1783866/will-inhaler...

[Thankyou4calling]

I can absolutely guarantee that if I use a puffer I perform better. No question.

Whether placebo or medicinal doesn't really matter. if I take the drug it enhances my performance and I see people doing it every single day.

[Dr Imran T]

Granfondo said:

Just imagine how good all these "asthma" cyclists would be if they weren't chronically ill!

Haha, yes poor luck how they suffer from these detrimental conditions. That said, he's not done too bad considering his acute condition. Shame it's an utter pi$$ take though.

My wife and I were discussing how some genuine [serious] Asthma sufferers couldn't get up a flight of stairs let alone compete and win a grand tour.

[Some Gump]

Thankyou4calling said:

I can absolutely guarantee that if I use a puffer I perform better. No question.

Whether placebo or medicinal doesn't really matter. if I take the drug it enhances my performance and I see people doing it every single day.

Erm.. am I being stupid, or is your performance increase not because you have asthma?

I mean, if you do have asthma, you'd hope your cure worked, otherwise it'd be a bit of a con. If not, then it sounds like you're taking drugs to "win" strava and I'm not sure that anyone takes it that seriously... (or do they??)

[TwistingMyMelon]

Dr Imran T said:

Granfondo said:

Just imagine how good all these "asthma" cyclists would be if they weren't chronically ill!

Haha, yes poor luck how they suffer from these detrimental conditions. That said, he's not done too bad considering his acute condition. Shame it's an utter pi$$ take though.

My wife and I were discussing how some genuine [serious] Asthma sufferers couldn't get up a flight of stairs let alone compete and win a grand tour.

This is just just miss informed small minded views of asthma, its not such a black and white stereotypical condition, regardless if Wiggins was taking the piss.

During winter, I can lie there at night wheezing and finding it hard to breathe in bed, which my inhalers will help relieve yet the next day I cycle up the steepest hill in the area flat out with no ill affects as asthma affects people in different ways at different times .

The struggling to get up the stairs analogy is more appropriate to conditions like COPD than Asthma

[Dr Imran T]

^^I'm perhaps slightly trying to simplify the point too much. Which ever way it is spun, I don't buy it.

[Toaster]

Dr Imran T said:

^^I'm perhaps slightly trying to simplify the point too much. Which ever way it is spun, I don't buy it.

and your a Dr in what? Effects of inhaled salbutamol in exercising non-asthmatic athletes http://thorax.bmj.com/content/56/9/675.full

Edited to say I just spotted Jesusbuiltmycar found the same research