Do All Patients Respond to Inhaled Corticosteroids?

Question: Do All Patients Respond to Inhaled Corticosteroids?

While inhaled corticosteroids are generally the first treatment recommended when your rescue inhaler does not sufficiently control your asthma symptoms, not all people respond similarly. Certain groups and risk factors increase risk for not responding to inhaled steroids.

Answer: A number of factors may affect how sensitive you are to inhaled corticosteroids. These include:

• The amount of inflammation in your lungs
• Structural changes in the lungs
• Certain physiologic pathways that are corticosteroid-insensitive

Also certain groups may not respond as well to inhaled corticosteroids:

• Smokers
• African-American children with poor control of their asthma
• Asthmatics with predominantly neutrophilic inflammation

_Sources:

_{National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed: August 16, 2009. Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma}