Inhaled steroids don't prevent asthma in high-risk toddlers, federal study suggests

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Giving inhaled steroids to toddlers at high risk of developing asthma helps them in the short term but doesn't prevent the chronic condition as had hoped, a federal study suggests.
Similarly, a study in Denmark found that taking inhaled steroids doesn't stave off asthma in infants.
"Although inhaled corticosteroids may control persistent or severe wheezing, such drugs should not be used in the hope of altering the course of asthma in childhood," wrote Drs. Diane Gold and Anne Fuhlbrigge of Harvard Medical School, who had no role in the research.
Both studies appear in today's New England Journal of Medicine.
Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease in the United States, afflicting about 9 million children including 1.5 million under the age of 5, according to federal statistics.
Inhaled steroids are often the first line of defense prescribed to asthma sufferers to control their symptoms. The drug works by reducing inflammation and opening the airways to help patients breathe more easily.
In the government study, 285 high-risk preschoolers took either twice daily doses of inhaled Flovent or a dummy medication. After two years of treatment, researchers found the drug had no lasting effect.
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