The findings could reshape how children around the world are treated for asthma. Photo: 123rf
A new study led by the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ) has found that asthmatic children don't face any additional risk from using inhalers currently reserved for teens and adults.
The institute claims the findings could reshape how children around the world are treated for asthma.
Children under 12 years old are usually prescribed a single-ingredient inhaler of salbutamol, which acts as a reliever, but does not prevent asthma attacks on its own.
For adults, the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation strongly recommends a two-in-one inhaler containing formoterol, a relieving medicine and budesonide, a preventing medicine.
The new study - led by MRINZ, alongside Imperial College London, Starship Hospital, University of Otago Wellington and the University of Auckland - has found two-in-one inhalers are safe to use for children between 5-15 years old.
A sample of 360 children across New Zealand were randomly assigned either a single-ingredient inhaler or a two-in-one inhaler, and researchers found that children who used a two-in-one inhaler suffered 45 percent fewer asthma attacks over the course of a year.
Meanwhile, the safety of the children using the more advanced inhaler appeared to be unaffected, with no difference in their growth, lung function and asthma control.
"Implementing these findings could be transformative for asthma management on a global scale," MRINZ director and senior author Professor Richard Beasley said.
"The evidence that budesonide-formoterol is more effective than salbutamol in preventing asthma attacks in children with mild asthma has the potential to redefine the global standard of asthma management."
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation medical director Professor Bob Hancox agreed.
"We have known for some time that two-in-one budesonide/formoterol inhalers are better than the traditional reliever treatment in adults, but this had not been tested in children," he said.
"This research shows that this two-in-one inhaler is effective and safe for children as young as five."
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