Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 42, Issue 4 565-570, Copyright © 1977 by American Physiological Society
Comparison of arm versus leg work in induction of acute episodes of asthma
R. H. Strauss, R. L. Haynes, R. H. Ingram Jr and E. R. McFadden Jr
The severity of exercise-induced asthma varies with the type of exercise
performed. To determine whether such variation could be attributed to the
use of different muscle groups, we exercised arms separately from legs
using a bicycle ergometer. First, arms were exercised to exhaustion, then
legs were exercised at the same load for the same duration. Arm work
resulted in greater ventilation, heart rate, hydrogen ion concentration,
and airway obstruction than did leg work. Later, legs were exercised to
exhaustion using a load more than twice that of the arm work. Both the
exhausting leg work and exhausting arm work resulted in significant
bronchospasm and acidosis, whereas the nonexhausting leg work did not.
These data suggest that, in arm and/or leg exercise, the relationship of
work load to muscle mass is a determinant of airway obstruction.
