Efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids is better than that of cromolyn for managing symptoms of asthma, according to a review of recent studies comparing the two treatments.
Patients suffering from asthma and treated with inhaled corticosteroids tend to make less use of life-saving inhalers and displayed improved breathing signs than their counterparts treated with cromolyn.
From News-Medical.Net:
Adult asthma patients using inhaled steroids such as the brand names Beclovent, Pulmicort and Flovent had on average three fewer severe asthma flare-ups each year compared to patients using inhaled cromolyn, sold under the brand name Intal.
Patients taking the steroids also scored significantly higher on tests of lung function and used their “rescue” inhalers less often than those taking cromolyn, say James Guevara, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues.
The findings were similar for children, Guevara and colleagues add, saying that their review supports recent consensus in the medical community that favors inhaled corticosteroids as a first-choice treatment for asthma.
“To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review comparing the effects of cromolyn to the gold standard, inhaled steroids,” Guevara said.
It was remarked by William Storms, M.D., an allergist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and director of the William Storms Allergy Clinic in Colorado Springs that the results do not suggest that there is no scope for cromolyn treatment, a fact that was supported by NIH asthma guideline advocating for cromolyn and other drugs as alternative therapies.
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