Editorial
Societal and health care benefits of early use of inhaled steroids
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In this issue of Thorax Blais et
al1 report results from a population based register
study which show that first regular treatment with inhaled
corticosteroids initiated in the year following the recognition of
asthma can reduce by up to 80% the risk of a hospital admission for
asthma compared with regular treatment with theophylline. It is a
dramatic result, albeit not so surprising. Regular use of inhaled
steroids prevents exacerbations of asthma,2 fatal and near
fatal episodes of asthma,3 and accelerated loss of lung
function.4 From 1985 to 1993 anti-inflammatory treatment with inhaled steroids decreased the number of hospital days per year in
Swedish children to less than a third.5 In a large community sample in eastern Massachusetts inhaled steroids halved the
risk of admission to hospital in each severity group.6 The
data strongly supported the early prescription of inhaled steroids. In
contrast, overconfidence in 
2 agonists combined with
suboptimal use of inhaled
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