Treatment of mild persistent asthma in children

Abstract

1highlight that daily use of inhaled corticosteroids is associated with reduced growth, and that intermittent use of these drugs to control mild persistent asthma avoids such growth impairment. This statement could lead physicians and (parents of) patients to think that daily inhaled corticosteroid treatment is unsafe and stunts growth. I would like to point out that the currently available evidence does not support a clinically relevant eff ect on long-term growth of inhaled corticosteroid therapy in children. The eff ects of inhaled corticosteroids on growth have been extensively studied and reviewed. 2 Although low to moderate doses (<400 μg per day budesonide or equivalent) are associ ated with a reduction of growth in height during the fi rst year of treatment of 1–2 cm, this eff ect does not accumulate over further years of treatment.