Researchers, including those from Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, have found that temporarily increasing the dosage of inhaled steroids when asthma symptoms begin to worsen does not effectively prevent severe flare-ups and may be associated with slowing a child’s growth. This challenges a common medical practice involving children with mild-to-moderate asthma.
The study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine this month to coincide with its presentation at a meeting of the 2018 Joint Congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and the World Allergy Organization in Orlando, Florida.