Some children are genetically less responsive to inhaled steroids for asthma

Some children may not be able to keep their asthma under control even if they consistently report using inhaled corticosteroids, a mainstay of asthma treatment, suggests a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Wednesday, May 23.

The study of 914 children with mild to moderate asthma found that over a one-year period, children who reported consistent inhaled steroid use were 20% less likely to report having well-controlled asthma compared with those not using any inhaled steroids. This finding held even when the severity of the children's asthma was taken into account.

“There may be several reasons for our findings; It is possible that some children are genetically less responsive to steroids,” says researcher Gregory Sawicki, M.D. of Children's Hospital in Boston. “In addition to issues of medication adherence and inability to completely control for differences in underlying asthma, severity can never be completely ruled out.”