Chest
Clinical Investigations: Airways ObstructionEffect of Early vs Late Intervention With Inhaled Corticosteroids in Asthma
Section snippets
Aim of the Study
The aim of the study was to evaluate the possible correlation between response to treatment and the duration of subjective asthma symptoms in a group of patients treated for the first time with an inhaled corticosteroid and followed up for 2 years.
Patients
During the period from February 1, 1990, to June 30, 1991, we decided to start treatment with inhaled corticosteroids in all patients with asthma with use of inhaled bronchodilators of more than three doses a week, and/or regular asthma symptoms
Results
There were more female than male patients in five of the six groups. Their mean age increased with an increasing duration of symptoms. The distribution of atopy was equal in all groups of patients.
The results of lung function measurements are shown in Figures 1 through 6.
Discussion
Several national asthma management and treatment guidelines have been issued2, 3, 4 and an international consensus report written.5 They all underline the importance of anti-inflammatory treatment of asthma. They also state that anti-inflammatory treatment should be started early, but without defining “early” in terms of months or years after diagnosis within which treatment should be started.
The information about the inflammatory nature of asthma prompted us to change our treatment strategy in
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Auli Lindholm, RN, for technical assistance, and Tore Persson, PhD, for the statistical analyses and advice.
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