Oral Asthma Medications Prove Effective
A new study published online in the current New England Journal of Medicine suggests that oral medications used to control asthma can be just as effective as inhaled medicines. The researchers studied over 650 patients over a two year period and found that the oral asthma medications Singular (montelukast) and Accolate (zafirlukast) performed just as well as inhaled steroids in controlling asthma, but only in the first two months of the study. After two years, asthma control between oral and inhaled medications was almost equivalent, but inhaled medications held a very slight advantage. What the researchers chose to focus on, however, is that patients are more likely to adhere to a medication regimen when given oral pills, compared to inhaled medicines. This is especially important when it comes to chronic diseases such as asthma, and certainly should be taken into consideration for patients who cannot adhere to inhaled medications for whatever reason. It should be noted that the study and its authors have associations with Merck and AstraZeneca pharmaceuticals, the two companies that produce the two oral asthma medications. [via NEJM]
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