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JACI Highlights - March 2006
Bateman et al - Asthma control can be maintained when Fluticasone Propionate/Salmeterol in a single inhaler is stepped down
Asthma is, as yet, an incurable disease. But with effective controller treatment it is possible for most patients to achieve clinical control of the disease. Asthma guidelines recommend that once asthma control has been achieved and maintained for three to six months, treatment should be reviewed and dose reduction attempted. However, relatively few studies have examined strategies for dose reduction. In the March 2006 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Bateman and colleagues study whether, in patients on a combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting ß2-agonist, it is preferable to reduce the dose of inhaled corticosteroid in the combination, or stop the long-acting ß2-agonist. The findings confirm that when a patient's asthma is controlled, reducing the dose of corticosteroid is a better treatment option than stopping the long-acting ß2-agonist treatment. Treatment with a lower dose of inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting ß2-agonist is potentially advantageous with respect to minimizing the chance of corticosteroid-related side effects. The current study provides some guidance on how best to reduce therapy when treatment reduction is indicated.
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