Diving and Asthma???

[Dean Harry]

Hello World,

Thank you all for your replies, they were very informative....

To give you an update....my girlfriend went back to another doctor last night (now that she is over her cold) and she passed the medical with flying colours...

They did'nt question a thing....

So once again, thank you for your support and we'll see you under the sea!

Regards,
Dean Harry

 

[KimmieR]

Originally posted by Heads Up
I have allergy induced asthma and have been cleared to dive by a dive doctor. Similar to the above, I have not experienced any problems at depth. On the contrary, sometimes after a dive, I feel BETTER - my breathing feels 'refreshed' (the only way I can describe it). My queries are:

1. Anybody else experienced this?
2. (For the Docs) Have there been any studies into this (i.e. can breathing compressed air either at the surface or at depth be demonstrated to IMPROVE tidal flows etc?)

Just curious

Hi

I too have mild asthma. I was fully cleared by a dive physician and have normal pulmonary function, even at the worst of my asthma. I have found that exercise greatly relieves my symptoms. I too have found that breathing tank air makes me feel better (I have only been in the pool thus far). I have a theory about this though if you'd like to hear it. Please keep in mind it is just my uneducated theory, I am an engineer, not a physician. If you have allergy induced asthma like me, and you breathe tank air, you are breathing allergen free air. There's no cat hair, or dust, or grass pollen in your tank. Clean, dry air is certainly a relief for me. Diving is probably good for people with mild allergies.

Kimmie

 

[large_diver]

I guess the thing to remember is that it is still possible for allergens to get into a tank. I've asked questions on other boards before about what tank fill operators do to ensure clean air in their tanks other than positioning the intake valve away from the exhaust. The answers I received were almost uniformly "not much".

 

[scubadoc]

Here is a report of a diver with an asthma attack in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Diver’s asthma attack linked to pollen in air tank
NEW YORK, Oct 26,1999 (Reuters Health) — A scuba diver’s life-threatening asthma attack some 27 meters (almost 90 feet) below the surface was apparently caused by exposure to pollen from the Mediterranean nettle Parietaria, according to Italian researchers.

The investigators warn divers who are allergic to pollen to make sure that a filter is used to remove allergens from air used to fill air tanks. Reporting in the September, 1999 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Dr. Gennaro D’Amato and colleagues, of Azienda Ospedaliera ad Alta Specialita A. Cardarelli, Naples, note that their patient had had “long experience of underwater diving without untoward effects.”

The 37-year-old man also had bronchial asthma and had tested positive for allergy to the nettle.

Before the dive in question, the diver used a new supplier to recharge his air tanks. When the investigators later inspected the premises of this supplier, they found that:
“the compressor was not fitted with an air filter and the area was rich in Parietaria plants,” suggesting that air containing pollen from the plant was used to fill the tanks.

In subsequent experiments using air from tanks and pollen traps, D’Amato’s team detected “damaged granules of Parietaria pollen that could have released specific allergens responsible for the asthma in the diver.”
The evidence that the asthma attack was pollen related is “very persuasive,’’ D’Amato and colleagues say. They advise divers at risk for pollen-induced breathing disorders “to check that the air used to recharge their tanks is filtered to prevent the passage of respirable pollen grains.’’
SOURCE: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
1999;104:710

D'Amato G, Noschese P, Russo M, Gilder J, Liccardi G.
Pollen asthma in the deep.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999 Sep;104(3 Pt 1):710.

 

[large_diver]

Thanks scubadoc -- that is a sobering report. I need to re-ask my LDS about this after reading this report.

 

[Heads Up]

I'm allergic to feathers!! So, no duck down duvets but unless a passing chicken gets sucked into the compressor, I should be ok!!

 

[KimmieR]

Well, so much for that theory eh? I never said I was a GOOD scientist. Thank you for the info my good doctor, I will be sure to ask my dive shop about filters.

Kimmie