Daily Steroids May Not Be Needed for Wheezing
Study Suggests Occasional Treatment Is Effective and May Reduce Risk of Decrease in Growth
Risk of Reduced Growth
The year-long study compared daily and occasional treatment with the inhaled steroid Pulmicort.
Children in the occasional group were treated, on average, every 3.5 months and their cumulative dose of the drug was 100 milligrams less over the course of the year than children treated every day with 0.5 milligrams.
More research is needed to determine if this treatment regimen is associated with a lower risk for impaired growth.
"The implication is that if you are giving less steroid overall there will be less impact on growth, but that remains to be seen," pulmonary specialist Len Horovitz, MD, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City tells WebMD. "It could be that there is more [bodily] absorption with the higher-dose intermittent regimen, even though the cumulative dose is not as great."
Horovitz says the occasional dosing schedule may be more attractive to parents because they don't have to remember to give the treatment every day.
"Parents know their own child's [wheezing] triggers, so I don't see the more complicated dosing as a big drawback."