LJMU Respiratory Clinic
Liverpool John Moores University’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences provides a specialist Respiratory Clinic focusing on respiratory problems in athletes and regular exercisers
- Over 20% of the athletes involved with Great British Olympic Team have exercise induced asthma
- A number of athletes with exercise induced asthma go undiagnosed as they fail to report symptoms
- Diagnosis significantly improves athletic performance and health
- It is possible respiratory symptoms experienced during exercise are not related to asthma
LJMU’s Respiratory Clinic conducts research and consultancy around the prevalence, diagnosis and treatment of asthma, exercise induced asthma (EIA) and unexplained breathing problems during exercise. The Respiratory Clinic provides a range of diagnostic tests for exercise induced asthma, including the Mannitol challenge and the Eucapnic Voluntary Hyperpnoea (EVH) challenge - considered by the World Anti – Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee to be the ‘gold standard’ challenge to diagnose exercise induced asthma in elite athletes.
World-class academic expertise
Dr. John Dickinson, The Respiratory Clinic and School’s Respiratory Physiologist, has been leading the testing of Britain’s elite athletes since 2003. His experience includes testing over 1,000 elite athletes, spanning all Olympic and many professional sports, such as rugby and football.
Testing enables:
- accurate diagnosis of asthma and other breathing problems, avoiding false positives and the dangers of conditions going untreated
- asthmatic/EIA athletes to be medicated optimally
- athletes with asthma and EIA who are optimally treated to compete with no disadvantage
Once an individual has been diagnosed with asthma/EIA, well established treatment pathways will usually result in full control of the disease and no limitation to an individual’s capacity to exercise and take part in high level sport.
Alternative Treatment
Approximately 20% of athletes with respiratory symptoms during exercise do not have asthma or EIA. In these individuals the Respiratory Clinic is able to provide assessment of breathing before, during and after exercise. Dr. Dickinson has developed a unique respiratory programme for those elite athletes who experience symptoms but who do not have EIA. The programme combines a focus on breathing techniques, posture work and inspiratory muscle training and has proved successful in reducing and eliminating respiratory symptoms during exercise.
The Respiratory Clinic has a permanent base within LJMU’s state-of-the-art Tom Reilly Building in Liverpool. The services of a mobile clinic are also available and ‘on site’ testing can be arranged.
If you would like to refer an athlete or squad for a breathing assessment please contact:
Dr. John Dickinson
t: 0791 203 8415
e: j.w.dickinson@ljmu.ac.uk
