In their interesting Guest Editorial on performance-enhancing substances, Bahrke and Yesalis' state on page 52 that "the incidence of asthma is about 1% in the general population," while commenting on the use of asthma medication by 6% of the athletes participating in the Sydney Olympic Games. This is a gross underestimate that cites an AP wire story via Yahoo as a reference. Recent US surveys report overall current asthma prevalence in the general population at 7.8%' and lifetime asthma prevalence at 10.5%.' Of greater relevance to sports, exercise-induced asthma (EIA) was reported in 20% of summer Olympic athletes' and doCllmented by sport-specific testing in 23% of winter Olympic athletes screened.' Self-reported symptoms have been shown to be inaccurate for EIA diagnosis that should be confirmed by an exerciseor environment -specific test challenge." Although the editorial questions whether asthma medications may be used for "treating" or "cheating," there is no support for the cheating hypothesis in the figures cited by the authors for medication use. The quote attributed to Richard Pound of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) expressing surprise at the rate of medication use ("How can all of the finest athletes on the face of the earth be so sick?") ignores the documented prevalence of EIA among elite athletes. It also fails to appreciate the goal of therapy for them-not to treat a current acute illness, but to prevent disability dur-
