Dear Doctors
September 24, 2007
Proper Treatment Helps Children Avoid Asthma Attacks
Question:
My 8-year-old daughter has asthma, and her doctor recently prescribed an inhaled steroid for her to use daily. I’m a little worried about giving my daughter such a strong drug every day, especially at the times she’s not having symptoms. Can you shed some light on her pediatrician’s reasons for this? Answer:
It’s likely that your pediatrician prescribed daily inhaled corticosteroids, which reduce airway inflammation, because your daughter has persistent asthma. Asthma is deemed persistent when patients have symptoms more than twice a week during the day or more than twice a month at night.
Asthma is a life-long but highly treatable disease that causes narrowing of the airways, which makes breathing difficult. Modern medications, when correctly administered, can allow people to live active, virtually symptom-free lives. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released updated guidelines on controlling asthma that include expanded recommendations for treating children.
The guidelines note the importance of monitoring changes in your child’s condition so that physicians can adjust medications to best prevent and relieve symptoms. Recommendations note that parents should work with their child’s pediatrician to develop a written plan that explains what actions to take when their child’s condition changes.
The new NIH recommendations also emphasize that patients with persistent asthma need long-term control medications, such as daily inhaled corticosteroids, to prevent asthmatic events, as well as medications (like fast-acting bronchodilator inhalers) that provide quick relief when attacks do occur.
A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that parents are sometimes so concerned about the side effects of medications, they don’t follow their doctor’s directions, skipping doses when children don’t have symptoms, for example. Scientific studies confirm that the benefits of preventing asthma attacks, which can be fatal, far outweigh any risks posed by inhaled corticosteroids and other medications used to control asthma.
The study’s lead author notes that the best chance of improving your child’s symptoms is consistent use of prescribed medications. She says parents often can quell their fears of overmedicating their child by asking doctors to explain how the medication works, why it is being prescribed, the side effects of the drugs, and how the significant benefits of these medications compare with any small risks posed by the drugs.
For more information about asthma visit the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s online site.