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Asthma treatments are promising
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More from HealthAsthma sufferers may be able to cut their use of inhaled corticosteroids and still prevent attacks by using a combination drug or a once-a-day pill, which may pose fewer long-term risks, a new study shows.
A single inhaled dose of the combination drug Advair worked as well as two doses of the steroid fluticasone (Flovent), according to an American Lung Association study appearing in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
For some patients, the combo drug can reduce asthma attacks and discomfort they may encounter if they skip doses of the steroids because of side effects, said Elianda Mendes, a researcher at the University of Miami medical school who worked on the study.
"The combination might be better if patients don't like steroids," Mendes said. "But it's not right for everyone."
A third alternative, the pill montelukast (Singulair), also prevented asthma attacks but not as well as the other choices, the study found.
Inhaled steroids are the standard treatment for the 20 million Americans including 9 million children with the incurable lung disease. But steroids can lower the body's defenses and result in infections and other side effects.
Researchers recruited 500 patients taking steroids, including 15 in South Florida.
For 16 weeks, they received either their two daily puffs of steroids, one daily pill or one daily puff of the combo drug containing steroids plus salmeterol (Serevent), which widens the airways in the lungs.
Mendes said asthmatics taking steroids alone could consider taking the combo drug, but not if they don't need the airway-widening component of the drug. The study authors suggested that patients could try the combo or the pill and switch back to steroids if they don't work.
"The key is, ask the doctor what medication is better because it's extremely personal," Mendes said.
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