As per the largest study of its kind on preschoolers, it was found that preventive treatment with high doses of inhaled corticosteroids is effective in minimizing the time duration & severity of asthma attacks that are triggered by cold.

The research, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, revealed that high doses of corticosteroids (fluticasone) inhaled at the onset of a cold and consumed for a minimum of ten days, significantly minimizes the number of moderate as well as severe attacks of asthma requiring emergency oral steroids.

This study was led by Dr. Francine Ducharme, Assistant Director of Clinical Research at the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center and a Pediatrics Professor at the Université de Montréal.

From News-Medical.net:

Dr. Francine Ducharme, assistant director of clinical research at the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center and a pediatrics professor at the Université de Montréal, led the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The research team found that high doses of corticosteroids (fluticasone), when inhaled at the onset of a cold and taken for up to 10 days, reduces the number of moderate or severe asthma attacks that require emergency oral steroids. This is the first study whose findings clearly demonstrate the treatment’s efficacy in young children requiring oral corticosteroids or hospital admission because of the severity of this type of asthma attack.

The breakthrough is all the more important, since this age group represents more than half (60 percent) of children that go to emergency departments or are admitted to hospital for asthma attacks. Although viral-induced asthma is frequent in preschool-aged children, optimal management of this disease remains elusive. That’s why Dr. Ducharme has focused her research on improving treatment for asthmatic children, particularly those of preschool age.

It was revealed in the study that the average growth rate of untreated preschoolers was approximately 6.5 cm as opposed to approximately 6.0 cm in the children treated with corticosteroids (fluticasone). The scientists seem to be interested in ascertaining both the treatment efficacy and side-effects for this study before confirming whether the preschoolers will be able to make up for the slight growth retardation.

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Tags: asthma attacks, asthmatic children, emergency oral steroids, fluticasone, inhaled corticosteroids, preschoolers

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