BREATHE EASY

Steroid Inhalers May Not Be Working for Mild Asthma Sufferers: Study

The New England Journal of Medicine study suggests says not every asthma sufferer needs the traditional steroid inhaler.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that it may be time to rethink traditional treatments for mild asthma. Citing a 42-week, double-blind trial involving 295 patients over the age of 12, researchers found that the type of inflammation most synthetic corticosteroids target is not as common as earlier thought. Among the patients with mild, persistent asthma, more than half responded as well to a placebo as they did to the traditional inhaler. “We’re suggesting that it’s time to reevaluate what the standard recommended form of treatment is for these milder patients,” said Stephen Lazarus, a pulmonologist at the University of California who led the research. “We may be giving people steroids, subjecting them to potential adverse effects and the increased costs, without a significant clinical benefit. For many years, I think we’ve attributed their poor asthma control to the fact that they weren’t taking their medicines and it may be that many of them were taking their medicines—they just weren't working.”