Parental Concern Versus Improved Outcomes
Numerous clinical trials show that inhaled steroids like Flovent or Pulmicort improve symptoms in childhood asthma such as:
Despite the evidence, many parents remained concerned about their use in childhood asthma. Side effects such as impaired growth, however,are relatively uncommon and most patients tolerate inhaled steroids just fine. The fact is, once patients need more than just an intermittent asthma inhaler, inhaled steroid use has been shown to improve childhood asthma outcomes such as:
- FEV1
- Airway hyperresponsiveness
- Symptom frequency and severity
- Fewer treatments with oral steroids like prednisone
- Fewer non-scheduled visits to your doctor or emergency room
- Fewer hospitalizations
Inhaled Steroids More Effective
Inhaled steroids are more effective than any of the following medications to reduce symptoms and improve outcomes in childhood asthma:
Recommendations
Although there are no studies on the effectiveness of inhaled steroids for asthmatic children under 5 years of age, the data from studies of older children has led experts to recommend inhaled steroids as the agent of choice for children who require more than intermittent rescue medication.
Because childhood asthma can be difficult to diagnose, inhaled steroids are recommended for young children with four or more episodes of wheezing in a year lasting at least one day and at least one of the following:
- Parental history of wheezing
- Diagnosis of atopic dermatitis
- Evidence of allergies
It is also recommended that a child use inhaled steroids if she has required oral steroid treatment for wheezing twice in 6 months or if a parent has had to treat symptoms more than twice per week over a month.
Sources:
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed: July 29, 2009. Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma
