Asthma Treatment & Medication: Steriods 'Could Stunt Growth' [Study]

Parents with asthmatic children should be careful in giving medication to their children. A new report suggests that children who are given with asthmatic medication before they turn 2 years old are likely to be stunted later on.

The new study involved 12,000 Finnish infants, aged up to 24 months who used inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) long-term and affected their growth. The use of steroid showed signs of stunted growth, BBC has learned. Those children were found too short for their age.

"Our research shows a link between long-term treatment of ICS during infancy and stunted growth at or after the age of two in otherwise healthy children," said lead researcher Antti Saari from University of Eastern Finland, Zee News has learned.

Previous studies have suggested a link with growth suppression. According to experts, the study was a reminder to parents that steroids should be used with caution among pre-school children.

The researchers are planning to focus on assessing the impact of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in older children and observe them for longer period.

"According to our research, we could only assess the impact of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in infancy until 2 to 3 years of age. The longitudinal impact of these medications is not clear and we would therefore like to investigate this further'," Saari added.

However, Asthma UK stressed that using ICS played a crucial role in controlling asthma symptoms and in reducing hospital visits due to the said illness among young infants.

BBC reports that one in 11 children in the UK has asthma. It's the most common long-term medical condition among children.

ICS are strong medications that are commonly found in inhalers that adults take to treat asthma and children use for recurrent wheezing. Although it proves to be efficient, it has known side-effects in some people. Saari is encouraging doctors to think twice before recommending steroids to the said age group.

Jonathang Grigg, honorary medical adviser to the British Lung Foundation and professor of paediatric respiratory medicine at Queen Mary University London admitted that treating young children who are wheezing is complicated.

They are finding it difficult to determine who among the children are to be targeted with steroids. Several cases grow out of asthma and didn't need further treatment.

Dr. Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK said that ICS is helpful in reducing and controlling asthma and its impact on height was "relatively minor."

"No parent should stop their children taking these life-saving medicines, because a slight reduction in growth is a small price to pay for medicines which may save your child's life," she added.

The study was presented at the 54^th annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Endoctrinology Meeting in Barcelona, Spain.