While a telling statistic, I think it is skewed a bit to the detriment of anyone labeled an Olympic, or Olympic-caliber athlete. Someone at that level is probably going to have, at some point in their training, all kinds of medical and performance-related tests run on them. It would be easy, say, during a VO2max test, to look at the results and think, "hmm, oxygen intake low. breathing hard. breathing out weak. lets test for asthma," and then "hmm, he/she has *some* symptoms. let's diagnose with mild asthma and get an inhaler."
Would that person have been put on the inhaler if they weren't at a high level to start with? I'd argue they would not. I'd also argue that some athletes (and/or coaches) do stretch the symptoms and search out this diagnosis.
That was my spin on it while talking it over with a friend just recently. I don't think it's quite as sinister as it looks.
While a telling statistic, I think it is skewed a bit to the detriment of anyone labeled an Olympic, or Olympic-caliber athlete. Someone at that level is probably going to have, at some point in their training, all kinds of medical and performance-related tests run on them. It would be easy, say, during a VO2max test, to look at the results and think, "hmm, oxygen intake low. breathing hard. breathing out weak. lets test for asthma," and then "hmm, he/she has *some* symptoms. let's diagnose with mild asthma and get an inhaler."
Would that person have been put on the inhaler if they weren't at a high level to start with? I'd argue they would not. I'd also argue that some athletes (and/or coaches) do stretch the symptoms and search out this diagnosis.
That was my spin on it while talking it over with a friend just recently. I don't think it's quite as sinister as it looks.
