Cold-induced bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, and this chronic inflammation causes bronchial hyper-reactivity. Bronchial hyper-reactivity is a condition of the airways in which they respond too easily or too strongly by narrowing their lumen to the effects of various provoking factors, which leads to a restriction of airflow. The possibility of excessive narrowing of the airway lumen is the most characteristic clinical sign of bronchial asthma.
One of the most common manifestations of bronchial asthma is the development of symptoms of the disease in response to physical activity. In most patients with cold-induced bronchial asthma, such as Mike, a typical clinical picture develops with a feeling of heaviness in the chest, the appearance of wheezing, shortness of breath, and cough, and it all occurs under the influence of physical activity. Symptoms usually occur at the end of an exercise and may progress after training. An increase in the degree of bronchial obstruction after exercise can be observed in patients with bronchial asthma, but in some cases, the onset of symptoms in response to exercise may be the dominant or even the only manifestation of the disease. In the case of Mike, both his forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume are low for his age. The treatment procedure needs to be conducted with the help of albuterol, which relaxes constricted smooth muscles in the bronchial lining.
In conclusion, Mike’s condition is cold-induced asthma that resulted from his previous disease. His forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume values are abnormally low for his age group, which indicates that he is experiencing severe bronchoconstriction during the exercise. In order to alleviate the issue, Mike needs to use an albuterol inhaler in order to stop the smooth muscle constriction. This will help him to proceed with his exercising regimen without being out of breath.