Go Easy on Asthma Inhalers, It can Stop Child's Growth

Asthma inhalers can make children shorter.

A new study found children inhaling steroid drugs for asthma not growing as tall as other children not using the drugs.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions affecting one in 20 children. Asthma is the inflammation of the air passages, leading to narrow the airways that carry air from mouth and nose to the lungs. 

According to Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), nearly five million asthma sufferers are below 18 years and about 36,000 kids miss school due to asthma. Robert C. Strunk at Washington University School of Medicine and colleagues included more than 1,000 children for examining the negative impact of the asthma treatment on children's growth.

All the participants, aged five through 12 underwent asthma treatment for more than four years as part of the Asthma Management Program (CAMP) clinical trial.

The total number of participants was divided into three groups according to the type of medication they received - budesonide (an inhaled corticosteroid medication), nedocromil (an inhaled non-steroid medication) and Pacebo.

Apart from these medications, all the participants were given albuterol and oral corticosteroids for relieving asthma symptoms. Strunk and team measured the height and weight of about 943 participants until they reached adult height (females-18 and males- 20).

At the end of the study, the investigators found that children who took budesonide becoming 1.2 centimeters (one-half inch) shorter than children included in the other two groups.

"This was surprising because in previous studies, we found that the slower growth would be temporary, not affecting adult height," Strunk said in a statement. "But none of those studies followed patients from the time they entered the study until they had reached adult height."

However, the study couldn't find factors like gender, age of the child, ethnicity having any influence on the occurrence.

"We found it made no difference if they were boys or girls or how long they had had asthma, or any other of these factors. We also looked at the height of the parents, and that didn't have any impact, either," Strunk said.

Concerned by the findings the investigators urged health practitioners to reduce the dosage to prevent the occurrence.

"If a child is not growing as they should, we may reduce their steroid dose," he said. "We will use the lowest effective dose to control symptoms to minimize concerns about effects on adult height."

Findings of the study were presented at the European Respiratory Society meeting in Vienna, Austria Sept. 3.