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As Children Grow, Asthma Drugs Need to Be Maintained for Continued Benefit ST. LOUIS, Mo -- February 17, 2009 -- Children whose asthma improves while taking steroid drugs for several years do not continue to see those improvements after stopping the drugs, according to a study released early online and appearing in an upcoming print issue of the Journal of Pediatrics. The Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) trial included more than 1,000 children aged 5 to 12 years who were treated for mild to moderate asthma over a period of more than 4 years at 8 centres. The children were randomised to receive budesonide twice daily, nedocromil, or a placebo. All children received albuterol. Researchers found that the children who took the medications during the trial showed no difference in their asthma control compared with the children who received the placebo. "The interesting thing is that as kids with asthma get older, they actually do better," said lead author Robert C. Strunk, MD, Washington University, and St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri. "We used to say they were outgrowing their asthma. What we know now is that as they go from being young children to age 20, their airways get bigger. They still have asthma but don't have as much trouble from it." The study also showed that using budesonide twice daily led to fewer hospitalisations and urgent care visits, fewer days in which additional asthma medications were needed, and a reduced need for albuterol. Using nedocromil twice daily reduced urgent care visits and courses of oral steroids for severe symptoms, but did not affect the number of hospitalisations, symptoms, or airway responsiveness. Although the patients had fewer symptoms 5 years after stopping the daily medication, Dr. Strunk cautions that doesn't mean that they can stop using asthma medications altogether or that their asthma is cured. "While the kids did get better with age and didn't seem to need the medicine as much, laboratory measurements indicated that they were still having symptoms, and therefore were primed to an attack if they got a bad cold or were exposed to a significant weather change," he said. The researchers determined that continued benefit of these medications likely requires continued use. SOURCE: Washington University School of Medicine E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version