In Britain, steroids have been the standard treatment for asthma sufferers for more than 30 years and are recommended in consensus guidelines drawn up by the British Thoracic Society and the British Paediatric Association. About three million people are affected by asthma in Britain, including 750,000 schoolchildren. The commonest form of the disease is allergic asthma, triggered by dust mites, a high pollen count or a viral infection. During an attack the smooth muscles of the bronchi, the main airways to the lungs, become inflamed and swollen, making breathing difficult. Inhaled steroids work by reducing this inflammatory reaction, preventing airway obstruction and improving symptoms.
Young sufferers get more frequent hunger pangs and mood swings when they resort to oral steroids.
They are also known to lower the body's resistance to chickenpox. Where severe asthma symptoms persist, doctors will try alternative treatments to oral steroids, including drugs known as Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists, which work on particular cells in the lung lining, known to be sensitive in some asthmatic sufferers. But Dr Mark Britton, chair of the British Lung Foundation and consultant physician at St Peter's Hospital, in Chertsey, Surrey, says non-steroid drugs do not offer a comprehensive treatment to asthma sufferers, as they are only effective in a few cases. The US research also revealed that steroid inhalers were much more effective than non-steroid drugs in reducing the risk of acute asthma attacks and preventing hospitalisation. The study involved 1,041 children with mild asthma, aged between five and 12.