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16 Jul 2008
Asthma sufferers who use a salmeterol inhaler to treat symptoms on a regular basis have a higher risk of experiencing adverse side-effects, according to a team of researchers.
Collating data from 26 trials involving 62,630 asthma patients, the researchers found that over a period of four to six months, 45 out of every 1,000 patients treated with the inhaler suffered an adverse event.
People who suffer from asthma normally inhale salmeterol twice daily to relieve symptoms over a 12-hour period and in most cases is recommended for use alongside corticosteroid or preventer inhalers.
Lead researcher Christopher Cates, from Community Health Sciences at St George's, London, said: "We found that the biggest increase in risk was seen in people with asthma who were not taking inhaled corticosteroids; however, there is no guarantee that inhaled corticosteroids abolish the risk all together."
Asthma patients are advised to follow the manufacturer's advice not to increase the dose of salmeterol during an attack and are warned that both benefits and risks of medication need to be discussed with a physician before starting any long-term treatment.
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