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The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America is sharing this press release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to bring you the latest research news quickly.


[PRESS RELEASE]

Short-term increases in inhaled steroid doses do not prevent asthma flare-ups in children

NIH-funded findings challenge common practice of increasing doses at early signs of worsening symptoms.

Researchers have found that temporarily increasing the dosage of inhaled steroids when asthma symptoms begin to worsen does not effectively prevent severe flare-ups, and may be associated with slowing a child’s growth, challenging a common medical practice involving children with mild-to-moderate asthma.

The study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, will appear online on March 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) to coincide with its presentation at a meeting of the 2018 Joint Congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) and the World Allergy Organization (WAO) in Orlando, Florida. It will appear in print on March 8th.

Asthma flare-ups in children are common and costly, and to prevent them, many health professionals recommend increasing the doses of inhaled steroids from low to high at early signs of symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Until now, researchers had not rigorously tested the safety and efficacy of this strategy in children with mild-to-moderate asthma.

“These findings suggest that a short-term increase to high-dose inhaled steroids should not be routinely included in asthma treatment plans for children with mild-moderate asthma who are regularly using low-dose inhaled corticosteroids,” said study leader Daniel Jackson, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, and an expert on childhood asthma. “Low-dose inhaled steroids remain the cornerstone of daily treatment in affected children.”

The research team studied 254 children 5 to 11 years of age with mild-to-moderate asthma for nearly a year. All the children were treated with low-dose inhaled corticosteroids (two puffs from an inhaler twice daily). At the earliest signs of asthma flare-up, which some children experienced multiple times throughout the year, the researchers continued giving low-dose inhaled steroids to half of the children and increased to high-dose inhaled steroids (five times the standard dose) in the other half, twice daily for seven days during each episode.

Though the children in the high-dose group had 14 percent more exposure to inhaled steroids than the low-dose group, they did not experience fewer severe flare-ups. The number of asthma symptoms, the length of time until the first severe flare-up, and the use of albuterol (a drug used as a rescue medication for asthma symptoms) were similar between the two groups.

Unexpectedly, the investigators found that the rate of growth of children in the short-term high-dose strategy group was about 0.23 centimeters per year less than the rate for children in the low-dose strategy group, even though the high-dose treatments were given only about two weeks per year on average. While the growth difference was small, the finding echoes previous studies showing that children who take inhaled corticosteroids for asthma may experience a small negative impact on their growth rate. More frequent or prolonged high-dose steroid use in children might increase this adverse effect, the researchers caution.

The study did not include children with asthma who do not take inhaled steroids regularly, nor did it include adults.

“This study allows caregivers to make informed decisions about how to treat their young patients with asthma,” said James Kiley, Ph.D., director of the NHLBI’s Division of Lung Diseases. “Trials like this can be used in the development of treatment guidelines for children with asthma.”

This work was supported by the following NHLBI grants: HL098102, HL098075, HL098090, HL098177, HL098098, HL098107, HL098112, HL098103, HL098115, HL098096. The NHLBI-funded study, Step Up Yellow Zone Inhaled Corticosteroids to Prevent Exacerbations (STICS) (NCT02066129), is part of the NHLBI AsthmaNet program, a nationwide clinical research network that explores new approaches in treating asthma from childhood to adulthood.

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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Comments (9)

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Oh @Lisa H! I am so sorry! That has to be very frustrating. Has she ever tried being on an antihistamine? for us if we can get our PND (post nasal drip) in control, our asthma can be better managed. Something to talk to the doctor about. 

Here is some resources:

Allergy Symptoms

Allergy Treatment

Asthma Over View

Asthma Triggers

Asthma Treatments

Also please join us in the Asthma Support forum

Melissa G

My child was diagnosed with Cough-Variant asthma at the age of 2.  She has been on steroids since then and she is 9 and she is only at 57 lbs.  Right now she takes Advair 250/50 two puffs twice a day, singular and a nasal spray.  She has had an allergy test completed and everything came back negative.  We have to go back to the allergist in October.  With her being negative on all 22 test, how do I go about protecting her.  When she has a flare-up, we do her normal meds, treatments twice a day, prednisone and rescue inhaler 6 puffs during the night.  She misses almost a whole week of school because of it.  I just do know what else to do. 

LH

Interesting. I wonder if adults receive any benefits from pretreating with inhaled steroids as far as preventing flare-ups-- or if they are like the children from this study and do not benefit? 

I sure with there were more non-steroid options that were efective and safe and less side effects. I know I am working hard with avoidance strategies and keeping indoor air quality in my home good. 

 

S

 I have noticed the doctors depend more on the meds than on their judgements...when u question them about the meds being prescribed they make u feel like its the right thing to do but when I do my own research it' a totally different story.

C

Very informative article.thank you for keeping us updated.my child's dr actually asked me to do that when my son had some cold symptoms as a prevention for his asthma,and it made sense to me to do it,but now I know better thx.as it is I'm very concerned abt my child's growth.

C
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