Pregnant women carrying a girl child and suffering from asthma are at an increased risk of experiencing worsening asthma symptoms than pregnant women carrying a boy child, as per a study presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in Orlando on May 25.
Lead researcher Peter G. Gibson, M.D., said that while the reason behind this difference is still unknown, it may be because the female fetus can produce a substance in response to asthmatic mother’s airway inflammation leading to worsening of asthma.
Dr. Gibson, Professor in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at Hunter Medical Research Institute at John Hunter Hospitalin Newcastle, Australia, remarked that the good news is that asthma among pregnant women can be controlled with asthma treatment.
During a study in which comparisons were made between cromolyn and inhaled steroid treatment in context to treating asthma, it was found that inhaled steroids are better than cromolyn.
This study was conducted by James Guevara, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues and suggested that adults and children with asthma can exercise better control over asthma with inhaled corticosteroids than cromolyn.
The study pointed out that asthmatic patients on inhaled steroids (such as the brand names Pulmicort, Flovent, and Beclovent) had fewer severe asthma flare-ups on a yearly average basis when compared to patients on cromolyn (sold under the brand name Intal).
It was also suggested that patients on steroids scored considerably better on tests of lung function and made less use of asthma inhalers.
Some children may face problems while responding tosteroid treatmentfor reducing the occurrence and severity of asthma attacks, as per a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society.
It was remarked by researcher Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children’s Hospital in Boston that this study highlighted the fact that not all children react to inhaled corticosteroids in the same manner.
It is considered that results of this study would prove beneficial in developing and implementing an improved asthma treatment option, especially in cases without any positive results in the past.
According to a study that was presented at the American Thoracic Society, there may be times when inhaled steroids recommended for an asthmatic child may not be as effective as thought.
It was also revealed by this study that this treatment result may be due to the fact that some children are less responsive to steroid treatment than others, a fact that was brought into notice by Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children’s Hospital in Boston.
It is believed that findings of this study will prove to be beneficial for members of the medical fraternity while prescribing inhaled steroids to young asthmatic patients and controlling asthma in their patients with little or no success.
According to a new review of recent studies focused on comparing inhaled corticosteroids and cromolyn, the two asthma treatment options, inhaled corticosteroids are better than cromolyn.
It was suggested that adults and children with asthma can breathe deeper along with exercising a better control over their asthma. It was concluded during the study that patients on inhaled steroidsfared better when it comes to lung function and using less of their “rescue” inhalers, according to James Guevara, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues.
It was concluded by Guevara and colleagues that inhaled corticosteroidswere far better than cromolyn, irrespective of the severity of the asthma and it was suggested that the obtained results are so decisive that future studies to be focused on such a comparison again are not warranted.
According to a study that was presented at the American Thoracic Society, there may be occasions when some children may find it difficult to control asthma when they are administered with inhaled corticosteroids, one of the most popular forms ofasthma treatment.
The study was quick to highlight that some children may be genetically less responsive to steroids, a fact that was brought into notice by Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children’s Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Sawicki went on to remark that it had already been communicated in the past that even an extensive use of inhaled steroids may not prove its worth for well-controlled asthma in every adult asthmatic patient. This study is believed to provide a new direction to doctors who have been findings ways to control asthma in their patients with little or no success.
In this study, comparisons were made between the two treatments (inhaled corticosteroids and cromolyn) to find the better of the two.
It was found that adult asthma patients had three fewer severe asthma flare-ups each year on an average with inhaled steroids (such as the brand names Pulmicort, Flovent, and Beclovent) as against inhaled cromolyn, sold under the brand name Intal. These findings yielded the same results for children.
The study also found that asthma patients (adults and young children) taking steroids scored considerably higher on the tests of lung function besides making less use of asthma inhalers than those taking cromolyn.