You don't have to have asthma to suffer from exercise-induced breathing problems.

A recent study by Dr.Jonathan Parsons at Ohio State University shows why it's so important to pay attention to breathing problems while playing sports.

Charlie Bilingsley has been playing lacrosse for ten years.

Part of his pre-game warm-up includes taking a deep breath.

Charlie has exercise-induced bronchospasm -- or EIB -- a breathing problem that occurs when he plays sports.

"Like running, you know, I'd get tired and my chest would feel tight and sometimes I'd wheeze," he said

You might expect it to happen to people with asthma. But according to a recent study, many people with no history of asthma suffer from the problem too.

Dr. Jonathan Parsons found that two out of five athletes at post-secondary schools have the condition - -and of those diagnosed -- 86 per cent had no prior history.

"And what that implies to us is that there's likely a large proportion of athlete both competitive and recreational that are experiencing exercise-induced bronchospasm, but they're unrecognized," he said.

The symptoms of EIB include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing or fatigue.

Charlie got tested by Dr. Parsons -- and thanks to his inhaler -- is now able to play at his full capacity, the entire game.

"As opposed to getting tired or feeling a little bit more fatigued, I just feel like I can run at my pace and speed for the whole game," he said.

Breathing problems Q and A

Q. Are certain sports worse for bringing out this exercise induced bronchospasm?

A. This study found the intensity and breathing demands of a sport didn't make any difference. It happens in both men and women.

There was another important point from this study: just feeling that you're breathing is not up to par when you exercise is not enough to make the diagnosis:

To make sure that you don't end up taking unnecessary medication, see your health care provider for a specific lung function test.

We think that exercise-induced bronchospasm occurs in about 10 per cent of the population-- this is still asthma but too mild to show up most of the time --where you just need the extra provocation of exercise to bring it out.

Q. Would it be better for asthmatics to stay away from sports altogether ?

A. If you keep your asthma under control, you should be able to play sports and exercise just like everyone else.

We often recommend that you take your blue inhaler before playing sports, if you do get short of breath during exercise, stop right away and take your reliever inhaler. Only start again if your breathing is back to normal. If your asthma is not under control, you should not start any exercise.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Dr. Rhonda Low.