New Drug Combination Shows Promising Results Against Asthma Attacks

A recent medical research found that a combination of two conventional drugs for asthma could significantly reduce the effects of the condition. The specified medications are the albuterol and the corticosteroid budesonide.

Albuterol and Budesonide Combination

California Distributes Free Inhalers To Underserved Asthma Patients — LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 06: 15-year-old Jesus Ayala learns the proper use of the new albuterol sulphate inhaler through a holding chamber at the Venice Family Clinic on June 6, 2007 in the Los Angeles, California community of Venice. With a quiet demeanor, Jesus is typical of a large number of teens who become withdrawn and suffer from depression as difficulty breathing isolates them from the physical activities of their peers. Because a federally-mandated ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) calls for all asthma patients who use albuterol inhalers to switch to an environmentally-friendly inhaler by December 31, 2008, more than 100 community health centers and clinics in California are offering free asthma inhalers to their uninsured and underserved low-income asthma patients through the 2007 ASPIRE Campaign. The ASPIRE Campaign is a partnership between The Children?s Health Fund, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of Free Clinics and Direct Relief International. Poor air quality has been blamed for much of the recent rise in childhood asthma cases in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. David McNew/Getty Images

Albuterol gives asthma patients immediate relief due to its properties that relax the affected muscles during an attack. On the other hand, the budesonide is administered through an inhaler device. It decreases unwanted episodes and the common symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath in patients.

These occurrences, also known as exacerbations, are incidents most people commonly refer to as asthma attacks. Even though many patients are frequently affected by these mild symptoms, the condition could lead to a severe state and cause recurrent emergency visits, long-term hospitalization, and even death.

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Clinical medicine specialist and Translational Science vice-chancellor Reynoald Panettieri Jr, who also served as co-author of the study, explained in the institute's press release that the findings they collected could be useful for the future of asthma treatments.

The first-ever combination of the selected drugs shows promising results that could be utilized for the standard therapies related to the condition, Panettieri continued.

Phase 3 of the clinical trial involved the data from over 3,000 participants from 295 regions in South America, Europe, and the United States. The research aimed to identify the positive impacts and the potential efficacy of the albuterol-budesonide combination.

The variants used for the investigation were developed and produced by the international pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca PLC. Each of the subjects included in the study has either mild, moderate, or severe asthma.

Two-Drug Combo for Asthma Treatment

Albuterol works perfectly as a reluctance for soft muscles during asthma attacks. The drug has a short-acting beta 2-agonist that attaches to beta-receptors or the minuscule proteins present in the airways of the respiratory system. Budesonide is a corticosteroid effective for decreasing the swells and other irritations brought by asthma in the airways.

Asthma attacks are commonly treated with the administration of albuterol. For an increased recovery, experts recommend doses of oral steroids depending on the state of the affected individual. However, these prescriptions are quite problematic for people with asthma due to the dosage side effects, Futurity reports.

According to the findings, the combination of albuterol and budesonide improved the respiratory functions of the group that received it. Moreover, the two-drug combo helped the participants incur fewer attacks than they normally experience.

A combination with a higher dose of budesonide lessened the risk of asthma attacks by 27 percent in short-term periods and 24 percent in annual records. Experts also found that the combination reduced the adverse side effects of the corticosteroids by 33 percent.

Panittieri's team concluded that the new inhaler treatment acts faster during sudden asthma attacks when patients need it. The combination's capability to decrease the exacerbations is also beneficial in lessening patients' oral intake of steroids after their flare-ups.

The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Albuterol-Budesonide Fixed-Dose Combination Rescue Inhaler for Asthma."