Two-in-one inhalers slash asthma attacks among young children

Inhalers, which combine the provision of immediate relief with a long -term preventive effect, are already recommended as a standard treatment of mild asthma among people aged 12 years and older in the UK, the USA and some other countries. Now the study of almost 400 children in New Zealand showed that these inhalers are more effective in young childrenAlso, almost halves the number of asthma attacks.

It is still unknown whether national and international guidelines on the basis of these conclusions will be changed, says a team member Andy Bush In the Imperial College of London, but the results are clear. “Of course, if it were my child with asthma, I would have them in combination,” he says.

The standard treatment of light asthma used inhalers containing salbutamol, also known as alburol, which relaxes the muscles in the respiratory tract for 3 or 4 hours after use. These “deliverer” were used as necessary.

If only the deliverer’s inhalers were not enough, people were given a second, separate inhaler containing a steroid that reduces immune inflammation that causes asthma. It was believed that these “preventier” inhalers should regularly use the protective effect, Bush says. “The previous one that you had to take inhaled steroids twice a day, or they will not work,” Bush says. “Now it is clear that this is not necessary.”

Large tests in adolescents and adults showed that combined inhalers are more effective than this previous regime, even when used only as necessary. The steroid in these combined inhalers is called Budesonide, and the deliverer is a formoterol that works the same way as salbutamol, but its effect lasts 12 hours.

It was anxious that children use combined inhalers, since the steroid component can affect their growth, but the latest study did not find any influence during the year of the test. This included 360 children, random prescribed for receipt either Budesonid-formaterol or salbutamol to relieve symptoms on demand, with a step up to two times a day of Budesonid-formaterol or steroid fluticazon, respectively, in the case of a strong attack of the asthma.

According to Bush, in other tests, the combined inhaler reduced the total consumption of steroids. This is due to the fact that when people use them as necessary, the dose of inhaled steroids that they receive is achieved up and down in accordance with the severity of their symptoms. A reduction in the number of attacks also reduces the number of people who need to “step” to two times a day of using a combination inhaler, or which require a course of steroid tablets.