Some asthmatic children may not reap benefits of inhaled steroids
Some asthmatic children may find it difficult or be unable to reap benefits of inhaled corticosteroids when it comes to controlling asthma, as per a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society.
It was found in a study of 914 children with mild to severe asthma that children making regular use of inhaled steroids over a period of one year reported reductions by as much as 20 percent when compared with those not using any inhaled steroids.
From News-Medical.Net:
Several studies of adults with asthma have suggested that even rigorous use of inhaled steroids doesn’t lead to well controlled asthma in all adults, Dr. Sawicki noted. “But this issue hasn’t been looked at closely in children,” he said. “Further studies are needed to see what is different about children who don’t respond to steroids, to see if there is a way to predict whether a child will respond to inhaled steroids.”
Of the 914 children in the study, inhaled steroids were recommended for 435 who had persistent asthma, meaning they had symptoms on a regular basis. Among children who weren’t recommended for inhaled steroid treatment, most reported well-controlled asthma. Among those recommended for inhaled steroid treatment, 44% reported consistently using the medicine; 35% said they intermittently used the medicine and 21% said they didn’t use it at all.
“The majority of children with mild asthma are less likely to have symptoms as they get older and may not need to be on daily steroids,” Dr. Sawicki said. “The flip side is that if a child has poor asthma control, the parents and doctor need to make sure the child is adhering to their inhaled steroid treatment. But variation in response to inhaled steroids, as other medications, is well described.”
Researcher Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children’s Hospital in Boston remarked that some asthmatic children may be genetically less responsive than others to steroids.
The data comes from the Child Asthma Management Program Continuation Study (CAMPCS), one of the largest groups of children with mild to moderate asthma in the nation who have been followed over a period of 10 years.
