The Olympic games are coming this summer and will be hosted in Beijing, China, a densely populated, air polluted urban environment. As a result, many elite athletes are worried about exercise-induced asthma's possible effect on their performance.

Exercise-induced asthma is is a condition where your lungs and airways overreact to exercise, resulting in airway inflammation. Pollen and other airborne allergens and irritants can make the reaction even worse.

In light of recent studies showing that college athletes often suffer from asthma without realizing it, many Olympic teams this year are taking extra precautions and testing their athletes for asthma. One such Olympic team is the Australian team. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a 20-minute test in a Melbourne medical laboratory reproduces the lung stress of high-intensity exercise. The Australian Olympic team doctors are using this test to pinpoint athletes who may be at risk because of China's poor air quality.

Early detection gives doctors and athletes time to prepare and get asthma under control, so that the stresses in China can be weathered more easily.