A study showed that use of long-acting beta-agonist bronchodilator inhalers more than tripled users' risk of asthma-related death, reports HealthDay. Risks for hospitalization and life-threatening complications also went up.
The findings of the study suggest that inhalers such as Serevent (salmeterol) and Advair (salmeterol combined with a steroid) may be responsible for 4,000 of the annual 5,000 asthma deaths in the U.S.
Lead author of the study Dr. Shelly Salpeter, a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University, says, "The take-home message is that long-acting beta-agonists worsen asthma control and increase the risk for moderate asthma exacerbations, life-threatening asthma exacerbations and asthma deaths."
However, Dr. Jerry Glassworth, professor of medicine at Tufts University in Boston, says the drugs may still be helpful.
If the drugs weren't used, "we might prevent some adverse reactions, but we might create as many, or even more, problems in our asthmatic population," Glassworth says.
"What I would like to see is more rigorous adherence to the current guidelines that suggest they aren't first-line therapy," he says. " There are other things to be used first, and, for many patients, that may be all they need."
