As any sufferer will attest, living with asthma is a challenge. But when it comes to athletics, the disease has been conquered. Just ask Olympic athletes Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Nancy Hogshead, Greg Louganis or Bill Koch. Flathead High also has its share of asthmatic athletes - driven, determined and pushing it to the max, one breath at a time.
"It just got harder and harder to breath when I was working out," said sophomore swimmer Becky Henning.
As the number of asthmatics grows worldwide, so does the number of those suffering from exercised induced asthma (EIA), a tightening and narrowing of the airways occurring after six to eight minutes of vigorous exercise. For aspiring athletes this realization can be frustrating.
"When I'd exercise, I'd have my attacks," said senior soccer player Lindsay Davis. "It feels like someone's pulling a belt around you and closing in, making it harder and harder to breathe."
"When I'm without my inhalers and trying to swim, I can't function," said Henning. "About once a month it gets really bad and I can't do much."
According to the National Asthma Education Program, at the 1984 Summer Olympics 24 percent of medal winners from the U.S. team were asthmatic and in 1988, 17 percent were asthmatic as well. Recent surveys show five to 10 percent of all high-performance athletes suffer from asthma.
Davis has controlled her asthma by avoiding dairy products and sugar, getting in good physical condition and learning "to know my body and how to tell it to relax." Davis says having asthma "makes me try harder."
"Asthma has made me more determined," she said. "A lot of people take it for granted every time they breathe."