The authors indicate that this treatment represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of the disease.
The study concluded that the patients not only improved their lung function, but also had fewer attacks. Photo: Shutterstock.
A study of patients with asma performed by researchers from Rutgers University and an international team revealed that a combination of two drugs, albuterol and the budesonidadrastically reduces the chances of experiencing an asthma attack.
The results of the clinical trial, published in The New England Journal of Medicineconfirm that a combination of albuterol, which provides relief from an asthma attack by relaxing smooth muscle and is used for immediate relief of asthma, and the corticosteroid budesonide, administered by inhaler, reduces the number of exacerbations, which can cause often a visit to the emergency room, hospitalization or, in some cases, death.
This represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of asthma. We believe that this combination treatment, which is the first of its kind, will become part of standard therapy,” said author Reynold Panettieri Jr.
The phase 3 clinical study, involving more than 3,000 asthma patients from 295 centers USA, Europa y South Americawas designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combination of albuterol and budesonide as treatment for patients with asthma from mild to severe.
Albuterol is a beta agonist of action short that acts by binding to receptors beta in the airways, relaxing the muscles of the same. As a corticosteroid, budesonide decreases inflammation and respiratory tract irritation.
The standard maintenance treatment consists of a combination of two drugs, one of them a beta agonist of action long-term, such as benralizumab, and the other a corticosteroid, such as beclomethasone. When patients have an asthma attack, they often use a rescue medication such as albuterol. They are also often prescribed doses of oral corticosteroids, although doctors seek to prescribe these drugs with less due to side effects.
The trial was divided into three groups. Since many patients already receive daily maintenance asthma treatment, participants in the groups were given one of three different rescue therapies to use, in case individuals suffer from asthma attackswhich included a combination of albuterol and a high dose of budesonide or a lower dose of budesonide. A control group received albuterol alone.
The study concluded that the patients not only improved their lung function, but also had fewer attacks.
asthma in Puerto Rico
The asma It is a chronic disease that causes the airways to become inflamed and narrow, which makes it difficult for you to breathe, as well as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing. In Puerto Ricoabout 430,000 people suffer from asthma.
The Puerto Rican Lung Associationindicates that on the Island the incidence of asthma is one of the highest in America and in the USA. We have not only the highest incidence of any racial/ethnic group, but also the highest severity and high mortality.