Originally Posted by RiPHRaPH
EIA can be controlled and lessened. EIA is not solely as a result of an exposure to cold weather. It is more accurately described as sudden exposure to temperature CHANGE. Asthmatics, as people with migraines can be characterized as having a vascular disease.
When it is cold out, the veins constrict to conserve your heat. The skin has a lot of blood flow, so this is why we become pasty white in the wintertime. Conversely, in the heat we can become flush, or red. This is a result of the dilation, as the body moves to cool itself.
During sudden temperature shifts, sometimes the body spasms during this 'transition' period. This can bring on an asthma-like symptom.
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Powerful concept, however, I've backpacked for days at a time between 20 and 35 degrees. I never had a sudden temperature change and still had the Asthma. Though I was living in relatively constant temperature, each time we would start to hike with the packs, I had to go through an Asthma attack just like when I went from a warm house to the cold outside. There was negligible difference.
I've never been told by a specialist/GP that Asthma was a vascular disease. Nor have I come across that description in any of my books. Must be a new theory or something.
By the way, in case you didn't read the post, the good doctor has already stated that if you don't have asthma, you don't have EIA. I've had Asthma for 60 years.
Al